Doctor convicted over gagged prisoner's death
A Swiss doctor has been found guilty of negligent homicide following the death of a Palestinian who suffocated as police tried to deport him.
A judge in Buelach gave Rene Christian Becher, 57, a five-month suspended sentence and ordered him to pay £20,000 to the family of Khaled Abuzarifeh, who was from Gaza.
Convicted of drug-trafficking, the 27-year-old Abuzarifeh suffocated in the lift of an office building at Zurich Airport as officers took him to board a flight to Cairo.
Abuzarifeh was handcuffed and gagged with adhesive tape to keep him from crying out. Becher had declared Abuzarifeh fit for the journey, according to court testimony.
Judge Andreas Fischer said Becher had been negligent in the way he checked Abuzarifeh's breathing and in allowing the expulsion to take place without a medical attendant.
Becher believed the prisoner was faking breathing difficulties caused by a badly deformed nose.
