Family urge further probe in Nigerian’s death
The lawyer for the family of a Nigerian man who died after authorities tried to deport him in March 2010 has called for the criminal investigation into his death to continue.
He said on Thursday that the second autopsy into the cause of death of the man, who died at Zurich airport, did not confirm the findings of the first one.
A second opinion released in mid-July agreed with a first opinion that the cause of death of the rejected 29-year-old asylum seeker was a serious heart problem. It found that the deportation struggle alone and the man’s hunger strike were not to blame.
The lawyer quoted by the Swiss News Agency said that a cardiologist had checked this second opinion and come to the conclusion that the given cause of death was “speculation” .
He called on the Zurich cantonal justice authorities to continue their probe. The public prosecutor in charge told the agency that he would look into the new information.
Forced deportation flights out of Switzerland were suspended after the man’s death so that authorities could look into the matter. They resumed to Africa in July 2010 – but not to Nigeria.
The first flight bound for Nigeria took off from Zurich Airport last week with 19 rejected asylum seekers on board – but not without incident as two Nigerians resisted boarding.
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