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Menezes: London cops on trial
01/10/2007 14:04 - (SA)
London - London's police force went on trial on Monday, accused of violating health and safety laws during an anti-terrorist operation that ended in the fatal shooting of a Brazilian electrician mistaken for a suicide bomber.
The court hoped to select a jury from a panel of 50 potential jurors on Monday, and then move on Tuesday to legal arguments and opening statements.
The Metropolitan Police force is expected to plead not guilty to a charge stemming from the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot seven times in the head aboard a London subway train in July 2005.
Prosecutors will ask why de Menezes - mistakenly identified as a terrorist suspect - was able to leave his home, board a public bus and enter the subway system, where he was gunned down at close range by armed officers.
Prosecutors have ruled out criminal charges against any individual officers, but have charged the force as a whole with failing to preserve public safety during the operation.
The case raises important questions about how far rules to protect employees in the workplace should apply to police officers and other members of the emergency services.
De Menezes was killed amid a huge police manhunt a day after five men attempted to detonate explosives-filled backpacks on London's transit system on July 21 2005.
That attack failed. But two weeks earlier, suicide bombers struck three subway trains and a bus, killing 52 people and injuring hundreds.
Communication procedures
The penalty for a conviction under health and safety laws is an unlimited fine.
The police force has accepted its responsibility in de Menezes' death, but the Independent Police Complaints Commission has ruled out disciplinary action against any of the surveillance or firearms officers involved.
A decision on whether four senior officers should be disciplined has been deferred until after this trial.
Once the trial is over the Metropolitan Police Authority, which oversees the police, will review communication procedures.
A report published last year revealed delays and problems with radio communication and confusion over whether de Menezes had been identified as the suspect and whether the command was given to shoot to kill.
The authority severely criticised police chief Ian Blair over his handling of the incident at a hearing earlier this month.
A coroner's inquest into the death will also be held once the trial is over.
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