Ante P. died in the German city of Mannheim under the knee of a police officer, whose colleague looked on. An initiative is fighting for justice for the victim and is now being pursued by one of the officers.
“Move along – Nothing to see here” is currently written on the website of the “Initiative 2 May”. The solidarity group was founded on the occasion of the fatal police operation in Mannheim on 2 May 2022. The 47-year-old Ante P., who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, died after two officers initially attacked him that day with pepper spray on the city’s market square and brought him to the ground. There, one of the police officers struck him four times in the head and pinned him down with his knee. The victim’s hands were handcuffed behind his back. After six minutes in this motionless prone position, Ante P. suffocated or died of heart failure. The police officers did not carry out resuscitation measures.
Since its inception, an “Initiative 2 May”, together with the family, has been calling for the perpetrators in uniform to be prosecuted. As fatal police operations in Mannheim subsequently became more frequent, the solidarity group also focussed on these: One week after Ante P., a man died during a police operation after being shot in the leg – although this is not believed to have been the cause of death. The police also shot Ertekin Ö. in December 2023 while he was in a state of mental emergency with a knife. Last April, a man armed with a machete succumbed to his injuries from a police bullet.
At least the criticism of the fatal operation on 2 May 2022 should now come to an end: Benjamin Z., one of the officers involved, is threatening the initiative with an injunction via his lawyers. Whether the 26-year-old police chief’s request will be honoured remains to be seen. “Demanding justice for Ante P. and Ertekin Ö. and our criticism of the investigation into the two deaths does not constitute a criminal offence for us,” the initiative writes on its website.
The background to the threat is a judgement by the Federal Court of Justice, which recently confirmed the judgement of the Mannheim Regional Court against the police officer Z.. He had already been acquitted of the charge of involuntary manslaughter by omission at first instance. The appeal to the Federal Court of Justice was subsequently lodged by the co-plaintiff.
The same court has yet to reach a decision on an appeal after the second officer Leon J. was sentenced to a fine. The 28-year-old police superintendent was charged with assault in the line of duty resulting in death. However, the Regional Court rejected this charge and found the behaviour of the police officers to be largely justified. Ante P. had posed a danger to public safety, according to the reasoning. Only the assault by officer J. was deemed inappropriate by the regional court and he was sentenced to a fine of €6,000.
The final decision of the Federal Supreme Court is expected in the autumn. Following the judgements, the disciplinary proceedings against the two officers will be continued, explained the Mannheim police headquarters.
In May, the police union (GdP) in Mannheim had already threatened to press criminal charges against the Interventionist Left (IL) Rhine-Neckar. The activists had “repeatedly insulted, abused and denigrated our emergency services”, the statement said. According to the GdP, they will now face criminal charges for insult, defamation and slander.
The background to this was a protest by the left-wing regional group in front of a police union information stand at the Mannheim “May Market” on 27 April. On the same day, a suspected burglar fell from scaffolding during a police operation in the city and suffered a fatal accident.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: Initiative 2 May.
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