A Melbourne man who was allegedly violently assaulted during a police raid on the apartment above Melbourne’s Hares and Hyenas Bookshop has spoken out about his experience.
In an exclusive interview with Nine newspapers and TV program 60 Minutes, Nik Dimopoulos has described the harrowing ordeal where his arm was ripped from it’s socket during a bungled police raid.
“I didn’t identify any faces, and so my thoughts went from a break-in to a group of people intentionally here to come in and possibly kill us,” said the 47-year-old, who has had two surgeries in a bid to restore some movement to his arm. “I just can’t explain how much fear was just brewing inside me. It was just insane.”
Police mistakenly thought a Lebanese man they were chasing had entered the apartment, so they forced entry and raided the home. Dimopoulos who was asleep at the time thought the intrusion was a home burglary or an attack by anti-LGBTIQ+ people. He ran from the premises and was tackled by police, suffering significant injuries in the process.
Surgeons who treated Dimopoulos for his detached arm and multiple bone fractures describe it as one of the worst arm injuries they have ever seen. Dimopoulos is now suing the Victorian Police for damages.
Lawyers from the Human Rights Law Centre say this case is just one of several that show the Victorian Police Watchdog (IBAC) needs more power and tools to effectively investigate police conduct.
“Media stories continue to reveal systemic problems and a lack of accountability within Victoria Police amidst reports that the Andrews Government is also blocking his own Minister’s request to increase powers for the watchdog charged with investigating serious cases of police misconduct.” the group said in a media release.
Alongside the case of Dimopoulos they’ve asked for further investigation of the a case where a Warnambool man who allegedly became a paraplegic from being handcuffed and dragged along his lawn after the police were called due to his music being too loud, and another case where an Aboriginal man was allegedly brutally attacked and injured by counter-terrorism police officers.
Jeremy King, Principal, Robinson Gill Lawyers, who is acting for the three men, said the Andrews government desperately needed to take action on the issue.
“Victorians deserve a police force that they can trust. The Andrews Government must commit to giving the Victorian police corruption watchdog the resources and powers it needs to independently investigate serious police misconduct. The status quo of police investigating police simply results in impunity. Police should not be above the law.” King said.
Nerita Waight, Chief Executive Officer, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, said Aboriginal people were continuing to suffer under the current system.
“Aboriginal communities in Victoria continue to suffer from the broken police investigation system where police investigate police. Every day of inaction and delay in implementing reform is another day of the same appalling outcomes for Aboriginal communities. The Victorian Government must urgently resource the independent police complaints body to restore community faith in our police.”
Ruth Barson, Legal Director, Human Rights Law Centre, said it was not acceptable that police were investigated by other police officers, and the watchdog’s limited powers did allow them to tackle serious police misconduct.
“Police should not be investigating police, it’s as simple as that. Victoria has a police corruption watchdog, but the Andrews Government has so far refused to give it the power and tools it needs to independently investigate all instances of serious police misconduct. The consequence is people like Nick can get seriously hurt and police can get away with it.”
OIP Staff
