Three officers charged in deadly pursuit (Brussels)
Three officers who were involved in a police chase that killed two people in their twenties have been charged by the Brussels indictment chamber. This is reported by the lawyer for the families of the victims.
Source† BELGA
The underlying location on May 9, 2017. According to the Brussels public prosecutor’s office, a police patrol found a motorcyclist with a passenger on the Poertplein around 9.30 pm and the patrol went after the motorcyclist.
A patrol of the dog brigade would have heard via radio communication that a right-hand pursuit was underway on Avenue Louise and would have slowed down in the lane of Avenue Louise so that the chase could continue in the left lane. The motorcyclist then drove into the rear left of that vehicle.
The motorcyclist, 24-year-old Ouassim Toumi, was killed instantly and his passenger, 20-year-old Sabrina El Bakkali, was seriously injured and died in hospital later that night.
Disproportionate
Four years after the facts, the file for the council chamber and thereby the suspension of prosecution for the officers involved. After all, according to the prosecutor’s office, no criminal offenses had been filed. The families of both insisted that they answer to the criminal courts.
However, the council chamber was of the opinion that the pursuit was disproportionate and that the police should not have put lives at risk for a traffic violation that could be fined. Therefore, the file was sent back to the park so that the police officers involved could be brought under suspicion. The public prosecutor’s office appealed against that decision, but for the AI, the public prosecutor’s office finally asked on Wednesday to confirm the decision of the council chamber.
However, the AI has gone one step further and has placed the three agents under suspicion. On February 23, a plea must be made about the referral of the three police officers to the criminal court