Langeland Municipality has put one of its employees on administrative leave pending an investigation after a video showing him using force against a Syrian refugee was obtained by the newspaper Information.

The video – which shows him, along with two other employees, holding the refugee down while pressing his face into the ground – warrants ‘further investigation’, according to a representative from the municipality.

Unnecessary force?
Staff at Danish asylum centres can only use physical violence against residents in self-defence. Though the manager in question has alleged that the Syrian refugee in the video was violent, an investigation will determine whether the force used was, in fact, unnecessary.

“It is hard to judge. But my immediate reaction is that there are some things that will have to be investigated further,” Ulrik Pihl from the municipality told Information.

Bad record
According to the newspaper, the man in question was convicted of assaulting patients at a treatment centre for youths in 2014.

Other residents at the asylum centre have since revealed that the man threatened to cause problems with their asylum applications if they complained about the conditions.