Several days ago, an ambulance driver was attacked while on duty in Roux, near Charleroi. The authors, a father and his son, were arrested but released in the process. A decision that many dispute and do not understand. The investigating judge Luc Hennart was the guest of “It’s not every day Friday” on Bel RTL. He came to explain how an investigating judge makes decisions.
This is a new tragic event that has caused a lot of talk regarding him this week. The aggression of an ambulance driver in Roux, in the entity of Charleroi. The man was doing his job when two individuals – a father and his son – came to blows.
The ambulance was stopped in the street, to help a person in medical distress. The vehicle blocked the road, preventing the passage of other motorists. “At some point, it’s essential. We’re not going to start putting ourselves 2 km away”deplores Stéphane Richter, head of the ambulance service company for which the victim works. “You should know that paramedics have equipment to carry to provide the best patient care”he continues.
Obviously upset by the situation, the two individuals then got out of their car to attack the caregiver. Some people “very little patient”as the manager of the ambulance company points out, who specifies that “the protagonists live in the same street.”
A risk of meeting the aggressors once more
Stéphane Richter was the guest of “It’s not every day Friday”, on Bel RTL. He said Vincent is now worried regarding meeting his attackers once more. The latter were indeed arrested by the police but they were then released a few hours later. They are released on conditions. “Vincent was beaten up and molested. He is unable to work and he is already calling his career into question because his attack was violentdevelops its pattern. He is trying to come to his senses and refocus, and today he learns that justice has freed his attackers.
“What is problematicadds Stéphane Richter, is that his attackers are in the same area of intervention as our ambulance company.” The victim might indeed one day find himself face to face with his own attacker and have to help him. A situation that remains incomprehensible to many people.
So in an attempt to understand what drives an investigating judge to decide on the release of the perpetrator of an attack, Judge Luc Hennart was also the guest of “It’s not every day Friday”. For him, it might be necessary to provide more explanations and transparency on the choices and decisions, but “it’s not up to the examining magistrate” to do that, he says. “Either a court spokesperson or a prosecutor can possibly explain the elements that led the judge to decide on this release.”
More explanations and transparency?
The investigating judge is responsible for examining the file, he will have to decide whether or not to deprive an individual of his liberty. “The grounds for deprivation of liberty are specific: there is the circumstance of the risk of recidivism, the circumstance that they might cause evidence to disappear… These are two examples. If these criteria are not met, there is no authorization to deprive someone of their libertydetail Luc Hennart.
It is sometimes difficult to make a decision given the public opinion and the noise that a case sometimes makes, but the judge must remain objective and study the different elements. “We have to make the distinction (…) I can understand this form of emotion in the face of this liberation but [le juge d’instruction]it is this person who knows the file”he insists.
In any case, the judge’s decision will always be difficult for some people to accept, especially the victims. And it is legitimate, for Luc Hennart.
