The death of a man, who died of asphyxiation after being locked in the trunk of a police car, from which thick smoke billowed, has caused shock in Brazil.
The video taken by an eyewitness has been making the rounds on the internet.
The Federal Highway Police (PRF) claimed today that its men "used restraint techniques and reduced risk tools" against the "aggressive" Genevaldo de Jesus Santos, 38, as part of a routine traffic stop.
The events unfolded Wednesday on a street near Ubauba, a town of 25,000 people in Sergipe state.
Footage from the video shows two PRF men wearing helmets trying to lock a man, whose legs were hanging out, in the trunk of a car. Thick white smoke, which appears to be emitted from a smoke bomb, is coming out of the trunk.
Cries of pain and someone shouting can also be heard: "They're going to kill him."
The man's legs move for about a minute and then stop. The officers fold them up and close the trunk.
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According to the PRF, the man was then driven to the Ubauba Police Station, but "felt unwell" en route and was taken to hospital where he was "pronounced dead".
The statement did not specify whether the man arrived dead at the hospital, but the Sergipe Security Secretariat said that a post-mortem examination determined that death was due to "asphyxiation".
Jesus Santos' nephew told news website G1 that he had informed police officers that his uncle was having psychological problems and was riding a motorbike when he was stopped for checking. "I was right next door, I saw it all. They put some kind of gas in the trunk. They wanted to take him to the police station, but my uncle was already unconscious. When they got to the hospital, it was too late," he recounted."
"It wasn't his fate, it was a crime. They acted with brutality, they killed him," the victim's wife said on her part.
The PRF said it has launched a "disciplinary inquiry" against the police officers involved.
Source: Proto Thema
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
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