Charged officer not suspended from duty
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Filmmaker Bob Plasto, a former ABC journalist who went on to international fame covering contentious issues in Australia and around the world, died at the age of 57.
Northern Territory Police says an officer charged with assaulting a mentally ill man has not been suspended from duty.
A senior constable from Darwin has been charged with the aggravated assault of former ABC journalist and filmmaker Robert Plasto in 2007.
Mr Plasto was a diagnosed bipolar depressive.
Police had transported Mr Plasto to Royal Darwin Hospital and he later died.
A coronial inquest earlier this year referred an incident at the hospital to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
In a statement, Northern Territory Police says the officer will not be suspended from duty while the charges are pending.
He is due to appear in the Darwin Magistrates Court on summons on November 9.
The Northern Territory Police Association condemned the decision to prosecute the officer.
"The DPP has compounded this tragedy for both Mr Plasto's family and the police officers involved by this unwarranted and unprecedented action," the association's president, Vince Kelly said.
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