Family to sue German police for violence against 13-year-old son

By Mesut Zeyrek

DUISBURG, Germany (AA) - A Turkish family in Germany has said they will sue the German police over the violence against their son for allegedly tearing an election poster.

In footage recorded on April 12, two police officers were seen handcuffing Emirhan Altintas, 13, while one of the officers was pressing the boy's chest with his knee in the western Duisburg city.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ersen Altintas, Emirhan's father, said that such treatment by police of a 13-year-old child cannot be tolerated, regardless of its reason.

"We will follow the case legally till the end," said the father who works as an engine driver in Duisburg.

Telling of the incident, Emirhan Altintas said he was hanging out with his friends when he suddenly lost his balance in front of a church and fell down with an election poster in his hand which he tried to hold on to.

"A woman who saw the incident called the police. I went to the park with my friends and sat down. A female and a male police officer came there ... the male police grabbed and slammed me to the ground, and pressed on my neck with his knees.

"I couldn't breathe and had a blackout. They (police) pressed on my arms and legs, and dragged me on the floor," he explained

The father said that both the Turkish authorities and the Turkish press contacted them after the incident, but the German authorities and the press ignored it.

"We will not give up on this matter till the end, no matter what. We will definitely file a suit," he added.