Denmark: Parents get damages
01 November 1995
Benjamin Schou, 18, was arrested by three police officers on New Year's night in 1992 who allege he had thrown a bottle at them. They used handcuffs, the so-called "leg-lock" and sat on Benjamin's chest (use of the "leg-lock" has been strongly criticised by Amnesty International) (see Statewatch, vol 4 no 4). He was carried, lifeless and handcuffed, into the police van. At the police station a doctor was called to resuscitate him and only then did his heart start beating again. But by this time his brain had already been deprived of oxygen for too long. Benjamin suffered permanent brain damage and is in a vegetative state from which he will never recover. He is totally paralysed and cannot communicate.
Highly placed officials and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Asbjørn Jensen quickly states that the three police officers only did their duty and that the Medico-Legal Council maintained that the reasons for Benjamin's cardiac arrest could not be determined.
In June 1994 Senior doctor, Fleming Bonde-Petersen, from the European Space Research Project (ESA), and an expert in the impact of pressure on the body, concluded that Benjamin had two cardiac arrests during his arrest on the street. He said they were caused by throttling by his scarf and by excessive pressure on his chest as a result of one or more police officers weight on him.
Officials in the Ministry of Justice and the Director of Public Prosecutions rejected both Bonde-Petersen's conclusions and the Amnesty critique and refused to charge the police officers involved. The officers stated that they thought Benjamin was "faking" when he was carried lifeless to the police van.
Benjamin's parents started civil proceedings against the police demanding 1.4 million Danish kroners from the Copenhagen police force. On 17 November, Østre Landsret (High Court) decided that the arrest of Benjamin was not violent and unnecessary force was not used. The court came to this conclusion despite evidence from doctors, ambulance staff and a police instructor. They told the court that the brain damage could have been prevented and that the arrest procedure was totally out of proportion in the stated circumstances.
However, the court also concluded, that the police officers could have prevented the extent of the damage to Benjamin and found in favour of the parent's claim for restitution. The money will be used for a foundation whose purpose will be to help people in conflict with the police.
Information, 7 to 19.11.95.