De Menezes photo “manipulated” says Brit prosecutor

London police digitally altered a photograph comparing slain Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes to an alleged terrorist, declared British prosecutors yesterday.

Attorneys representing the Metropolitan Police in a civil trial introduced the image to illustrate the difficulties in distinguishing de Menezes to bombing suspect Hussein Osman. Yet prosecutor Clare Montgomery claimed the photo (image) was modified to make de Menezes look whiter and have a similar face shape to Osman:

Giving evidence as a witness, forensics consultant Michael George told jurors that the picture of de Menezes used by the police seemed to have been brightened and lost definition compared to the original.

De Menezes was shot and killed in cold blood by London officers two weeks after suicide bombings killed 56 people in the city’s public transit system in July 2005. Prosecutors have argued that a “catalog of police failures” such as a “noisy and chaotic” atmosphere at Scotland Yard led to de Menezes' death and endangered public safety.

As we mentioned last May, relatives of de Menezes have called for justice to be served despite the lack of criminal proceedings against the officers involved in de Menezes’ murder.

Sources- BBC News, Reuters UK, Guardian UK, International Herald Tribune, The Latin Americanist, AFP

Image- Sydney Morning Herald