The widow of a 38-year-old Slovak businessmen that died in hospital after having been on the receiving end of heavy-handed treatment by police officers at Charleroi Airport and the Slovakian state are to appeal against a ruling by Court Chambers in Charleroi (Hainaut) that none of the 31 suspects in the case will be tried before a court. The news has been confirmed by Hayat Karim, a lawyer that represented the three police officers that restrained Jozef Chovanerc while he was being held in a police cell.
Widow of Slovak businessman and Slovakian state to appeal against decision not to hold trail of 31 people suspected of having contributed to his death
Published:
The civil parties in the case had 15 days to appeal against the ruling. Mr Chovanec’s widow had already expressed her disappointment that no trial would be held.
Jozef Chovanec died on 27 February at the Marie Curie Hospital in Charleroi, where he had been admitted 3 days earlier after suffering a heart attack. The 38-year-old had businessman gone to the airport to take a flight back to Slovakia. However, he behaved aggressively and was arrested and taken to a police cell at the airport. While he was in the cell he hit his head against a wall dozens of times.
Mr Chovanec, who was delirious, was then forcefully overpowered by several police officers. They kept him firmly restrained. Eventually his head was wrapped in a blanket before he was given an injection of a sedative. Camera footage of the police operation showed officers smiling and a policewoman giving a Nazi salute. A reconstruction took place in late September 2021.