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Oury Jalloh: German policeman fined for asylum seeker bed death

By voice, 20 December, 2012

A German court convicted a policeman Thursday, of complicity in the 2005 death of an asylum-seeker from Sierra Leone, while cuffed to a bed in a cell, and ordered him to pay a fine.

In a high-profile case that raised serious questions about the treatment of refugees by the German authorities, Oury Jalloh, also known as Ouri Jallow, died on January 7, 2005, in Dessau police station in the east of the country after the mattress cover on the bed caught fire.
The regional court in nearby Magdeburg found the officer in charge of the station, identified only as Andreas S., guilty of involuntary manslaughter and fined him 10,800 euros ($14,100) after a retrial ordered by a federal tribunal.
The fine was greater than the prosecutor’s demand of 6,300 euros. Attorneys for co-plaintiffs including Jalloh’s family had asked for a conviction on bodily harm with fatal consequences and a jail term, while the defence sought an acquittal.

Supporters of the family protested against the verdict outside the courthouse, blowing whistles and chanting “Oury Jalloh — it was murder.”

“Andreas S. should not have left Oury Jalloh without visual surveillance,” Judge Claudia Methling said as she read the verdict, noting that Jalloh was known to have consumed alcohol and illegal drugs that night.
Police claimed that Jalloh, arrested after two women alleged he had harassed them and shackled because he was violent, had set fire to the mattress cover himself with a cigarette lighter although his hands were restrained.
A subsequent probe found that he died within two minutes of smoke
inhalation. Methling said there was “no evidence” that another person had been involved in his death, as alleged by critics of the investigation, or that evidence had been intentionally destroyed as part of a possible cover-up.
She said the court had concluded Jalloh set the fire on his own “to draw attention to himself”.

In a ruling that prompted outrage at the time, a regional court in Dessau cleared the policeman in 2008 of causing bodily harm with fatal consequences.
But the federal appeals tribunal ruled in January 2010 that the lower court failed to take into account that the smoke alarm would have sounded as soon as the mattress cover caught fire, potentially giving Andreas S. time to rescue him.
It also said that Andreas S. should have been able to hear Jalloh’s screams
Via the intercom system, and subsequently ordered a new trial.
Methling said however that the Magdeburg court had concluded that “Jalloh could no longer have been saved” but that Andreas S. bore criminal responsibility for not keeping closer tabs on him.

The Magdeburg judges began hearing the case in January 2011, as Jalloh’s family and human rights campaigners held a vigil inside the courtroom.
Andreas S. issued a statement before the trial in which he said that he was not guilty and was unable to prevent Jalloh’s death.

Rights group Amnesty International said the verdict failed to answer all the remaining questions about what happened in the cell nearly eight years ago and called for independent probes of cases involving possible police misconduct.
http://www.awoko.org/2012/12/19/german-policeman-fined-for-asylum-seeke…

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German Law
German policeman fined in Oury Jalloh case

A German court has handed down a fine to a policeman found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an asylum seeker. Oury Jalloh died of smoke inhalation in a prison cell after setting fire to his mattress.

Nearly eight years after the death of Oury Jalloh, the local policeman linked to his death received a verdict from a regional court in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt on Thursday. The judges fined the policeman, Andreas S., 10,800 euros ($14,114) for involuntary manslaughter of the asylum seeker from Sierra Leone.

On January 7, 2005, police in the Saxony-Anhalt city of Dessau took Jalloh into custody after he had allegedly harassed two women while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Jalloh later died in a holding cell from smoke inhalation after he had set fire to his own mattress.

Andreas S. should have kept a closer watch over Jalloh considering his state, according to the regional court in Magdeburg. The police officer did not respond to the fire alarm, claiming he thought it was a false alarm.

However, "he couldn't have rescued Jalloh," said the presiding judge, Claudia Methling before the court on Thursday.

A federal appeals tribunal had overturned Andreas S. acquittal by a Dessau court in 2010 due to considerable gaps in the chain of evidence. However, the regional court in Magdeburg reviewed the evidence and concluded that although investigators had made errors in the case, nothing had been destroyed on purpose. It also concluded that a third party did not cause the fire.

The fine levied on Thursday exceeded the original plea by the Public Prosecutor's Department, which had asked for 6,300 euros.

Jollah's case has caused a controversy in both domestic and international media in the last eight years over the treatment of asylum seekers. Demonstrators gathered outside the Magdeburg court on Thursday to protest the verdict, insisting that Jalloh had been murdered.

Both parties, including Jolloh's family who are co-plaintiffs, now have a week to file an appeal with the federal court.

kms/hc (dpa, dapd, AFP)
http://www.dw.de/german-policeman-fined-in-oury-jalloh-case/a-16452679

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