THE HAGUE--Two police officers have been found guilty of causing the death of Aruban holidaymaker Mitch Henriquez by assault and were sentenced to suspended prison sentences of six months.
The Court in The Hague ruled that the precise cause of Henriquez’s death could not be determined but that it is extremely likely the chokehold used by one of the Officers was a major cause.
Judges dismissed defence claims that he had died of an “acute stress syndrome.” The Court also said the prolonged use of the chokehold by one Officer and the use of pepper spray by the other as he hit Henriquez in the face were unlawful.
Henriquez died in July 2015, a day after being arrested by a team of five Officers at the Zuiderpark in The Hague. Police said they responded after he claimed to be carrying a gun.
The Prosecutor’s Office said the Officers were guilty of assault but should not be punished as they are suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and because their families have been threatened.
Video footage of the scene showed the 42-year-old being restrained using a chokehold before his motionless body was bundled into a Police van.
His death triggered several nights of rioting in The Hague’s Schilderswijk district, where there has been a history of tension between the Police and the large minority ethnic population.
Two of the five Officers were charged with fatally assaulting Henriquez after an initial pathologist’s report concluded that he had died of the chokehold.
All five have been internally disciplined by the Police but none have been dismissed. During the trial, the Prosecutor’s Office said that based on expert witnesses it had concluded that Henriquez’s death was caused by acute stress syndrome and the Officers could not be held responsible.
The forensic pathologist who examined the body said, however, that the chokehold was to blame.
Most of Henriquez’s family walked out of the last days of the trial after it emerged that the prosecution had based its case on low-quality video footage of his arrest. The films were copied from better quality originals which were produced in Court by defence lawyer Richard Korver.
Korver also called two Police lip-readers to study the video footage in Court. The witnesses said Police Officers had said to each other: “Seems dead to me,” and: “He’s stopped responding.”
But defence lawyers for the Officers claimed that their words were being misinterpreted and that they had said Henriquez was “dead tired,” rather than dead.
Korver told reporters after the verdict that Henriquez’s relatives are relieved that the Police Officers have been found responsible for his death. However, they are disappointed that the Officers will escape jail, Korver said.
Henriquez’s family members, friends and acquaintances witnessed the Court pronounce the verdicts from the public gallery.
“I am fighting for my cousin for almost three years, and I actually had expected acquittals, so this is not too bad,” said Alex Dijkhof. “They have been found guilty, but Mitch’s mother has a hard time dealing with it. She thinks the sentence is too low for a conviction which holds the Officers responsible.
Henriquez’s ex-girlfriend Jennifer Petrotchi is emotional. “My client is broken. It has been a difficult and emotional day, and she cannot interpret the ruling,” her lawyer Gerald Roethof said.
“It is a true Dutch ‘polder decision.’ It is justified that the Court is holding the Officers responsible, but their sentences do not fit the judgment,” the lawyer said.
Henriquez’s relatives do not have the opportunity to file for appeal as it concerns a criminal case in which they are no party, but Roethof is hopeful of a Prosecutor’s appeal.
“I would be glad, because that would enable us to plead our case once again in the Court of Appeals, and I can imagine that the Appellate Court would impose a higher sentence than the lesser Court,” he said.
