TIROLER TAGESZEITUNG, comment: “As if nothing had happened” by Karin Leitner

2023-05-10 20:02:06

Issue of Thursday, May 11, 2023

Innsbruck (OTS) A 19-year-old is pinned to the ground by police officers. His head is repeatedly banged on the sidewalk. He’s bleeding. This was documented by a Puls24 cameraman who was filming at a crime scene. The broadcaster published the video. Many saw it – and were appalled. So did representatives of human rights organizations such as Amnesty International. Their finding: This should be considered abuse. What are the Vienna police doing? She lets the officials continue to work as if nothing had happened. “The service authority sees no reason for official measures.” The executive is doing a disservice. It reinforces the impression that esprit de corps is above all else. It also proves what Amnesty calls the main problem: that police violence in Austria is not effectively investigated. And above all not independent, which the Council of Europe and the United Nations have been criticizing for a long time. Only now – two years following the announcement – is an “independent” investigative body to be installed on the cause of police attacks. It will not be independent because it reports to the Minister of the Interior; he is also the head of the executive branch.
If the police are not acting adequately, the politicians should do it. By making the position independent and free from instructions. So that the suspicion of being covered up instead of being punished is over.

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