2023-09-23 15:54:00
There were around 150 people who gathered this Saturday followingnoon to demand “justice for Imad”. Six months ago to the day, this 42-year-old father was shot dead by the police following a chase which ended at Clos des Lilas, a few meters from his family’s home. sister, organizer of the white march.
If the investigation is still at the investigation stage, the gray areas and questions remain numerous and painful for the family and loved ones of the victim, hit by a bullet in the head and a second bullet in the chest. This Saturday, the family’s lawyer, Me Selma Benkhelifa, did not hesitate to talk regarding execution.
“As in other cases, the question that arises concerns the use of a firearm in the context of a chase,” explains the lawyer, who had already defended the family of little Mawda. “When can a police officer draw a weapon? The question that will be at the heart of the debates concerns proportionality and the use of force. In my opinion, there is no question of proportionality in this matter.”
And to continue: “Imad found himself in an enclosure, a dead end. His van was making a U-turn. According to some witnesses, she was stationary. If this was not the case, it was in any case traveling at very low speed. If the police officer felt in danger, he had the option to move aside. The only case in which a firearm can be used is in self-defense. This was not the case here. The shots were intended to kill.”
Imad lost his life following the chase on March 23. ©E. Brl.
At around 3 p.m., equipped with flocked signs “police blunders: stop the cowboy cops, let justice be done for Imad”, “stop police violence” or even “Justice and truth”, the participants left Place Penne d’Agenais to take rue de l’Yser, rue Plasman, avenue des Tulipes and finally the clos des Lilas, where Imad’s partner notably spoke before a balloon release was organized.
Also in the crowd were several other relatives of victims of police violence who are still waiting, often for several years, for their cases to be processed in court. “What is also being denounced today is the opacity that justice shows towards families. She doesn’t answer anything, doesn’t even give the elements that are known and that are no longer the subject of investigation. It is extremely difficult for loved ones and it inevitably creates a loss of confidence,” continues Selma Benkhelifa.
That Imad’s name is never forgotten and that responsibilities are established, this is what the relatives of the forty-year-old asked this Saturday.
Police violence: the human rights league regrets the absence of statistics
Family, friends, groups of victims of police violence made up the white march this Saturday. Also in the ranks are representatives of the Human Rights League, for whom this tragedy once once more illustrates the need to force an entire system to evolve.
“In this case, we were asked by the family to provide assistance in organizing the demonstration but we also become a civil party in certain cases,” underlines Saskia Simon, coordinator of the violence observatory. police officers within the Human Rights League.
“Our work consists of informing citizens of their rights vis-à-vis the police, analyzing the phenomenon of police violence despite the absence of official statistics on the subject, and helping families in legal proceedings.” An important aspect for the league, which believes that families are too often left to their own devices when a tragedy involving the police occurs.
”When a death occurs following the intervention of a police officer, what we ask is that an investigating judge be systematically appointed so that a neutral and independent investigation is carried out and that families can access the file. Today, this is still not the case. It is therefore up to the families to become civil parties, to fight to obtain answers to their questions. Beyond the mourning, it is still up to them to undertake heavy and lengthy legal procedures.”
Imad lost his life following the chase on March 23. ©E. Brl.
However, it is difficult to have an enlightened vision of what this represents since to date, no official statistics are available in Belgium. “However, this is one of the missions of Committee P. The fact that information is not systematically transmitted, or not to a single body, makes things complicated. The data is neither collected nor published.”
Shortcomings that do not lead to questioning. “However, we must realize that when the police are involved, whether there is a death or not, the words of the victims and their loved ones are not yet often enough taken into consideration. There is always a tendency to give more credence to the word of the police officer(s).” An observation that the lawyer for Imad’s relatives also made on more than one occasion in his files.
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