BBC news 22 September 2008
The inquest into the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes by police hunting a suicide bomber is due to begin.
The Brazilian electrician was shot at Stockwell Tube station in south London the day after the botched 21 July 2005 London suicide attacks.
A jury will hear from two officers who fired the fatal shots - the first time their accounts will have been heard.
Former High Court judge Sir Michael Wright has been appointed coroner for the hearing, set to last three months.
Sir Michael, assistant deputy coroner for Inner South London, will swear in the jury and deliver an opening statement.
Mr de Menezes was shot dead on 22 July 2005 by specially trained Metropolitan Police firearms officers.
Teams of undercover officers had trailed the 27-year-old across south London after he left flats being watched for one of the 21/7 bombing suspects.
In 2007, an Old Bailey jury found the Metropolitan Police guilty of breaching health and safety laws, after hearing about the events leading up to Mr de Menezes being shot seven times at close range on a tube carriage.
Key question
The inquest jury will consider whether or not Mr de Menezes was unlawfully killed.
They will hear from some 75 witnesses over three months, including 40 serving police officers who have been granted anonymity, and Tube passengers.
Among those who will be speaking for the first time will be policemen codenamed C2 and C12, the two specialist firearms officers who shot the Brazilian.
Some of the other officers giving evidence appeared at the Old Bailey trial, including surveillance officers accused of failing to establish whether or not the man they were following matched the description of suicide bomber Hussain Osman.
The proceedings are likely to be watched closely to see if they raise questions about the leadership of Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
The inquest is being held at the John Major conference room at the Oval Cricket Ground because of the scale of the proceedings and level of public interest.
Relatives of Mr de Menezes, who have campaigned for police officers to be prosecuted, will hold a protest at the venue.
Mr de Menezes' mother, Maria, and brother Giovani, are expected to fly from Brazil to attend the later stages of the inquest, including evidence given by the two shooters.
There have been five inquiries relating to the death and its aftermath, including the criminal trial.
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