Wednesday, August 17, 2005

de Menezes - London police death squad killing of innocent man: "At 9.30am ... Jean Charles left his flat in Scotia Road, South London. Surveillance officers wrongly believed he could have been Hussain Osman, one of the prime suspects, or another terrorist suspect.

"The documents and photographs confirm that Jean Charles was not carrying any bags, and was wearing a denim jacket, not a bulky winter coat, as had previously been claimed. He was behaving normally, and did not vault the barriers, even stopping to pick up a free newspaper.

"He started running when we saw a tube at the platform. Police had agreed they would shoot a suspect if he ran. A document describes CCTV footage, which shows Mr de Menezes entered Stockwell station at a 'normal walking pace' and descended slowly on an escalator.

"The document said: 'At some point near the bottom he is seen to run across the concourse and enter the carriage before sitting in an available seat.... A member of the surveillance team is quoted in the report. He said: 'I heard shouting which included the word `police' and turned to face the male in the denim jacket.

"'He immediately stood up and advanced towards me and the CO19 officers. I grabbed the male in the denim jacket by wrapping both my arms around his torso, pinning his arms to his side. 'I then pushed him back on to the seat where he had been previously sitting. I then heard a gun shot very close to my left ear and was dragged away onto the floor of the carriage.'

"The report also said a post mortem examination showed Mr de Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder, but three other bullets missed, with the casings left lying in the tube carriage."

Let us hope that any death squads in Australia are immediately stood down. No politician or bureaucrat should ever be permitted to deploy death squads to the streets. Terrorism is by definition a political activity and needs a political solution.

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