2023-09-17 07:46:00
Ali is a dent in life. Both figuratively and literally. He has a black eye. He has a recent scar on his left eyebrow. He wears a wrist brace that encircles part of his right hand. When the president of this correctional chamber calls him to take his place in the dock, he gets up weakly and walks forward.
The facts which caused him to end up before the criminal justice system do not really find a rational explanation. They are an example of the problems encountered in the Gare du Nord district of Brussels. They attest to the difficulty of police work in this environment and the fact that, on nothing, the situation can completely get out of hand.
The first occurred in September 2022. A police patrol intervened on rue d’Aarschot, an artery in the northern district known for its numerous windows from which prostitution takes place. A man is heavily intoxicated. It’s Ali. He is in such a state that the police call service 100 to take care of him.
This is clearly not to Ali’s taste. According to the report, summarized by the judge during the hearing, Ali then grabbed a broken bottle and threatened one of the police officers with it. He draws his weapon and Ali drops the shard. Asked to explain, Ali pouts: “I’m not sure,” he says. And, to support his denials, he says that “when I drink, I take cans” and not bottles.
In the northern district of Brussels, residents exasperated by insecurity are sounding the alarm: “It has become a lawless zone”
This did not convince the judge who pointed out to him that broken bottles left on the ground must be common in an artery like rue d’Aarschot and that he was then in an advanced state of drunkenness.
The omnipresence of alcohol
Ali concedes. Arriving in Belgium three years ago, where he says he works, he actually has an alcohol problem. “I spent half my life drinking, in Algeria and Belgium,” he says.
Three weeks later, Ali, who is wandering around the neighborhood, once once more arouses the interest of police officers on patrol. He makes incoherent comments and is seen with a large knife with a 30 cm blade. In full view of the police, he hides the knife and flees. He is caught. According to the PV, he said he threw the knife which was not found. Only an Opinel will be seized from him. On the PV, he admits to having this large knife which he wanted to sell and which he might not hide given its size.
”You are an alcoholic. Do you take drugs?” the judge asks him. “It happened to me,” he replies evasively. He admits to using cannabis and having “tried” cocaine.
Drunk or under the influence, Ali slips. But he does not understand that he represents a danger for himself and for others.
Upon questioning from the president, he admits: he takes Rivotril and Lyrica. These two drugs are widely diverted in Morocco and Algeria. They cause a strong addiction and give a feeling of overpowering, while disinhibiting. “It was prescribed to me to quit alcohol,” he says.
But today, in court, Ali assures him: there was no big knife. Asked regarding his situation, he says that he is waiting for a response to his asylum application and that he is living in a hostel.
Nearly 800 pills seized by Brussels-North police and 13 people arrested
This second episode will then also have gone blue. But, last July, “following another chance,” said the judge, Ali was still talked regarding. Still on rue d’Aarschot, police officers saw him take out a knife with a 30-centimeter blade and scrape the ground in a threatening manner. Horrified passers-by run away. The police arrest Ali who, today in court, assures him: “I am not bad”.
”Will you ever leave your body. Think regarding those who witness such a scene,” the judge told him before ordering him to sit down, while he tried another case with a detainee whom the police had just taken handcuffed into the courtroom.
In denial
Examining this other case takes half an hour. At the end of this, the judge asks Ali to stand up. “Were you able to put yourself in the place of these people who witnessed such a scene,” the judge asked him. “I don’t behave violently,” Ali repeats, before saying: “I think I’m going to change neighborhoods.”
The prosecutor seizes the opportunity: “It’s behavior that needs to change!” She does not dwell on the second episode because no knife was found. But she considers the two other facts established and, given that Ali has already benefited from a suspension of sentence for robbery, she recommends a prison sentence of between one year and 15 months.
“The characteristics of the northern district of Brussels mean that it tends to be more criminogenic”
The defense task is difficult. The lawyer mentions disproportionate alcohol consumption, a complicated neighborhood.
Before taking the case under advisement, for a judgment on October 28, the judge insists. “It is high time that you understand that, although you are not evil, you are nevertheless a danger.” And it might all end very badly. And to refer to the fact that in this northern district, in November 2022, a police officer was killed, with his throat slit, by a person with an unstable profile like Ali.
“One day, a police officer may want to control you and you will pull out a knife”, with, the judge continues, a fatal outcome. For the policeman or for Ali.
1694939836
#Faced #Ali #wanders #northern #district #passersby #run #danger
