Former Hibs midfielder Stephane Omeonga has alleged that he was arrested and assaulted by police on Christmas Day.
The Belgian player enjoyed two loan spells at Easter Road, accumulating a total of 27 appearances.
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Following this, Omeonga went on to make 57 Premiership appearances for Livingston over the course of two seasons before transferring to Israeli club Bnei Sakhnin two summers ago.
Recently, he accused Italian police of mistreating him during his attempt to travel to Tel Aviv last week, describing the experience as “total humiliation.”
At 28 years old, he shared footage on social media that seemingly captured him being forcibly removed from a plane after an encounter with the authorities.
Originally from Liege, Omeonga expressed on Instagram: “On December 25th, I became a victim of police brutality.
“While I was preparing to board a flight from Rome to Tel Aviv, a flight attendant approached me about a supposed issue with my documents and instructed me to exit the aircraft.
“Believing my documents to be fine, I calmly sought clarification regarding the issue.
“Police were summoned, and I was handcuffed and forcefully evicted from the plane. Once outside, away from witnesses, the officers roughly threw me to the ground and assaulted me, with one officer pressing his knee against my head.
“Then I was carted away in a police vehicle, handcuffed as if I were a criminal, to the airport. An ambulance arrived, but in shock, I could not respond to the paramedics’ questions. Shortly after, I overheard an officer on the radio claim that I refused medical assistance, saying that ‘everything is fine.’
“This was utterly false; I wanted to go with the ambulance because I was terrified of what the police might do to me.
“Subsequently, I was confined in a grey room without food or water and left in total humiliation for several hours. Upon my release, I discovered a police officer had lodged a complaint against me for alleged injuries supposedly incurred during my arrest, even though I had been restrained.
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To this day, I have yet to receive an explanation for my arrest.
“As a human being and father, I can’t support any form of discrimination. This arrest is merely the visible tip of the iceberg.
“Many who look like me face employment challenges, inadequate housing, or are excluded from the sports they love simply because of their race.
“We must unite and raise awareness, educating our colleagues, neighbors, and friends about this pervasive issue that hinders societal progress. Peace.”
Omeonga has represented Belgium’s Under-21 team eight times.
Of Congolese descent, he has also played for clubs in Italy such as Genoa, Avellino, and Pescara, alongside Cercle Brugge in Belgium, in addition to his spells with Hibs and Livingston.
SunSport has reached out to the Italian National Police for a statement.
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