Lawyers Ready to Move Chovanec Case to European Court of Human Rights

Brussels, September 25 (TASR-correspondent) - Belgian law firm Cottyn from Aalst, representing in court the wife of Jozef Chovanec, who died after the Charleroi airport police's action in February 2018, will appeal against the verdict issued by the Belgian court on Wednesday and is ready to deliver the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if necessary. The Belgian court issued on Wednesday a verdict that no one is criminally responsible for the death of Slovak citizen Jozef Chovanec, stating that it was a regrettable coincidence of tragic circumstances. Lawyer Ann Van De Steen has confirmed the ruling for TASR and added that the law firm will contest it. Chovanec's widow and the state of Slovakia now have 15 days to appeal against the verdict at a higher-instance court. "We're not satisfied with the verdict and we will use all the possibilities of the Belgian legislation to appeal against it at the Court of Justice in Mons. We'll file the appeal as soon as this week," said Van De Steen. "If it fails, we'll take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, but first we'll try all options in Belgium," she added. Jozef Chovanec (38) died in a hospital in February 2018, three days the controversial actions by Belgian police officers. In 2020, released video footage from the cell showed the airport police officers kneeling on Chovanec's neck for more than 15 minutes, while one of them gave a Nazi salute during the act, much to the amusement of her colleagues. According to an expert analysis by Belgian doctors, the cause of his death was swelling of the brain, which he suffered after repeatedly banging his head against a wall in a detention cell. ko/mcs