Brazilian man dies of gas suffocation in trunk of police car
Police officers from the Federal Road Police (PRF) in September 2021 (Illustration image).
© Eraldo Peres/AP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In Brazil, the behavior of the police is once again called into question.
After the police operation that killed 26 people in a favela in Rio, another event arouses indignation: the death of a man by asphyxiation in the trunk of a police car.
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The facts occurred on Wednesday May 25 on a road in the state of Sergipe in northeastern Brazil.
A short video shows two police officers from the federal traffic police (PRF) having difficulty closing the trunk of their car on a man, since the individual's legs protrude from the vehicle.
On these images filmed by a witness, we see thick white smoke escaping from the trunk and we hear screams as well as passers-by exclaiming “
they are going to kill him
”.
The victim's legs move at the start of the sequence and then stop moving.
It was at the hospital that the death by asphyxiation of this man was noted, he was 38 years old.
Ongoing disciplinary proceedings
A relative of the victim who says he witnessed the scene says that the police threw gas into the trunk.
The victim's wife denounces "
a crime
", she adds: "
They acted with cruelty, to kill him
".
In their version, the police do not explicitly mention the use of tear gas or any other substance.
The federal traffic police claim that its two officers “
employed immobilization techniques and instruments with low offensive potential
”.
And he assures that the individual was “
aggressive
” during a roadside check.
She promises “
a disciplinary procedure to assess the conduct of the officers involved
”.
"
Dismay
"
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed its "
dismay
" and asked the courts to investigate, not only the circumstances of the Brazilian's death, but also to assess the PRF training and intervention protocols for people with mental or psychological disorders.
This body of law enforcement which usually acts exclusively on the highways took part in the police operation which left at least 26 dead in the favela of Vila Cruzeiro, in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, May 24.
►Also read
: Brazil: Bolsonaro welcomes a bloody police raid in a favela
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