El Cafe’s security guard, sentenced to 50 months in prison for the rape of a client of the establishment in 2019, decided to appeal. He and his lawyer contest the judgment rendered on June 28 by the Brussels Criminal Court. In addition to the prison sentence, the sorter also had was ordered to pay the victim damages in the amount of 8,500 euros.
Reminder of the facts… In a complaint lodged on March 2, 2019, a young woman then aged 20 explained that she had been forced to perform two fellatios on a party at El Cafe, a well-known establishment in the cemetery of Ixelles.
Around 4 a.m., when the room is emptying, the young woman, who has had a few drinks, goes to the toilet. The bouncer follows her, who is going to push her into one of the cabins and force her to give him a blowjob. He threatens her: if she does not comply, “you will be nothing“. The victim’s ordeal begins and lasts nearly 30 minutes, she tells the police. He wants to impose other sexual acts on her, she refuses. He forces her to perform fellatio on him once more: new ordeal.
The relief only lasted for a while
The sorter will be arrested in stride. His trial will be held on June 14. His defense did not convince the judges who decided, two weeks later, to sentence him to 50 months in prison. A sentence that will echo the recent movement #balancetonbar, launched end of 2021 to denounce the sexual assaults committed in the bistros of the cemetery of Ixelles.
“The relief only lasted a while as we have just learned that he has appealed the first instance decision finding him guilty and sentencing him to a firm 50-month sentence.“, reacts Maître Caroline Poiré, the victim’s lawyer. “My client remains combative, however, and we are impatiently awaiting the fixing of the case before the Court of Appeal, hoping that it will intervene quickly despite the congestion of the rolls of the courts of appeal due to the significant lack of magistrates..”
She adds : “This demonstrates how the legal proceedings are psychologically trying for the victims. It sometimes takes several years to obtain a final decision, although the defendant is entitled to use all the remedies available to him.“
Contacted, Maître Abdelhadi Amrani, lawyer for the convicted person, did not wish to comment on the introduction of his appeal.
