The death of a man suffocated after being placed in the trunk of a police vehicle from which a thick smoke came out shocked Brazil, where a video of a witness who filmed the scene went viral.
(Read here: The controversial farewell of the thief who was stabbed to death by his victim)
The Federal Highway Police (PRF) assured this Thursday in a statement that the agents “they used immobilization techniques and instruments with low offensive potential” before the “aggressiveness” of Genivaldo de Jesús Santos, 38, during a roadblock.
(You may be interested in: Rio de Janeiro: suspicions of ‘torture’ during police operation in favela)
The events occurred on Wednesday on a road near Umbauba, a small town of 25,000 inhabitants in the state of Sergipe (northeast).
It’s not a fatality, that’s a crime. They acted cruelly to kill him
Later, the PRF reported that the agents involved “were removed” from their activity, and said they were “committed to the unequivocal investigation of the circumstances” in which the events occurred.
Video footage clearly shows two PRF officers, wearing helmets, attempting to lock a man, whose legs are sticking out, into the trunk of a car.
Thick white smoke comes out of the trunk, which looks like it came from a tear gas canister.. Cries of pain and comments from a witness can be heard exclaiming, “They’re going to kill him!”
#Brazil 🇧🇷 Strong images 🚨
🔸 In an improvised gas chamber, policemen kill a man with schizophrenia
🔸 He was 38 years old and was locked in the trunk of a Federal Highway Police patrol car in Umbaúba
👉🏼 Agents set off a pepper spray bomb#AM1080 📻 pic.twitter.com/hd3FY1Qk6b
– Monumental AM 1080 (@AM_1080) May 26, 2022
The man moves his legs for about a minute and then freezes. The officers then fold their legs and close the trunk.
According to the PRF, the man was later transferred to the Umbauba police station, but “he felt bad” during the journey and was taken to the hospital, where “he was treated and death was confirmed.”
That press release does not specify whether the man arrived at the hospital dead, but the Sergipe security secretary revealed that the result of the autopsy confirmed death by “asphyxiation.”
Genivaldo de Jesús Santos’ nephew told the G1 news site that he told officers his uncle suffered from “mental problems” and was on a motorcycle at the time of the checkpoint.
“I was close and I saw everything (…) They threw a kind of gas in the trunk, they went to the police station, but my uncle was already unconscious [al llegar]. The policemen took him to the hospital, but it was too late,” he revealed.
“It’s not a fatality, that’s a crime. They acted cruelly to kill him”The victim’s wife told G1.
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch expressed its “consternation” in a statement, and asked the Public Ministry to investigate not only the circumstances of Santos’ death, but also to evaluate the training and protocols of the PRF with people “with psychosocial deficiencies.” “.
This security body that usually acts exclusively on the roads participated this Tuesday in the operation that left at least 26 dead in the favela of Vila Cruzeiro, in Rio de Janeiro (southeast).
The PRF says it was called in to help arrest truck load theft suspects.
AFP
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