By Lee Kyung-min
Police withdrew their plan to execute a warrant to conduct an autopsy on the late farmer Baek Nam-ki, who died last month following 10 months in a coma after being knocked over by a police water cannon, due to opposition from Baek’s bereaved family members and civic groups, Tuesday.
It was the police’s second attempt to execute the warrant, which expired the same day, following a botched attempt Sunday. Police are expected to ask the prosecution to seek a new warrant soon.
With more than 1,000 officers, police attempted to enter Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), where Baek’s memorial altar has been set up, but they were blocked by a barricade formed by more than 600 civic group members.
While Jongno Police Station chief Hong Wan-seon sought to have talks with bereaved family members, but gave up after 10 minutes. Hong ordered the police officers to retreat to prevent any physical clashes.
Police say an autopsy will determine the exact cause of death, while family members maintain their distrust of the authorities, saying this is a mere tactic to divert the cause of his death to something else rather than the water cannon, allowing police and the Park Geun-hye administration to avoid responsibility for his death.
Earlier a local court issued the warrant, which had the condition that the autopsy could only be conducted if the bereaved family agreed. Police expect a new warrant, if issued, may exclude such a condition because they could not even meet with the family.
“It is regrettable that the bereaved family and civic groups refuse the legal process for the autopsy,” Hong said.
Meanwhile, the power of police water cannon has become a fresh issue following an SBS TV program, “We Want to Know It,” which carried out an experiment under the same settings that Baek was in, using the same kind of water cannon to demonstrate the power of the apparatus.
The experiment showed that a 5 millimeter-thick tempered-glass window was shattered at a pressure of 7 bars, which was in stark contrast to the police report. Police said earlier that the 5 millimeter-thick window would remain intact at the much higher pressure of 15 bars.