The prosecutor's office has completed the investigation into the death of 23-year-old Bartosz. The man died a day after he was placed in the room for detained persons at the police station in Wołomin (Masovian Voivodeship). He allegedly told his mother that he was beaten there by policemen. He did not live to see the autopsy. The officers presented a different version of events. However, investigators checked whether they exceeded their powers and whether they were responsible for the young man's death. What did they find out?
– On November 20, the proceedings regarding the unintentional manslaughter of the injured party were discontinued – Norbert Woliński, spokesman for the Warsaw-Praga District Prosecutor's Office, told us.
As the spokesman recalled, the proceedings concerned “unintentional manslaughter.” According to investigators, “no act was committed.” – The opinion of a forensic medicine expert excluded the connection between the victim's injuries and his death, and did not provide any basis for attributing them to the actions of police officers – said Woliński.
Two versions of events
Bartosz died on the night of December 22-23, 2023. The day before (December 21), late in the evening, when he was returning home from a walk, according to his family, he was accosted by an unknown man.
“He got scared and called the police. He counted on the officers' help and ensuring his safety. The police came to intervene. But it was not the aggressive attacker who was arrested, but Bartek. The police took him to the District Police Headquarters in Wołomin. They indicated the basis for the arrest: insulting an officer ( Art. 226 of the Penal Code),” a family friend wrote online.
The 23-year-old returned home the next day after 5 p.m. “He was terribly beaten on the face and head, his shoulder was torn off, and there were traces of cigarette burns. He told Mamie that the police beat him, burned him with cigarettes, and forced him to sign a report confirming that he had marijuana on him. He refused because, as he claimed, he had nothing of the sort,” the woman reported. The next day, his mother was to take Bartosz to the hospital for an examination. But he died before that.
The police presented a different version of events. According to them, on December 21, 2023, the deceased broke the car window of unknown people, and therefore police intervention was initiated. The victims testified that the man was behaving aggressively, which is why he was detained. According to the services, the 23-year-old had a container with dried plants in his backpack.
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