2023-11-07 19:49:11
The prosecutor requested Thursday, before the Brussels police court, the acquittal of three police officers accused of involuntary homicide following a chase which led to the deaths of two young people, Ouassim and Sabrina. On May 9, 2017, they were riding motorcycles in Brussels. They tried to escape a police patrol who wanted to check them, then crashed into a second police car which had got in their way at the exit of a tunnel.
For the prosecutor, the sole person responsible for the accident is Ouassim, who took risks to escape control, despite the fact that he was not alone, his fiancée being a passenger. Moreover, the magistrate noted that the choice of a police patrol to use force, in this case starting a chase, must be reasonable and proportionate to the objective pursued. And for him, in this case, the police did not exceed this principle, the race having lasted no more than three minutes before the accident.
On the other hand, for the lawyers of the civil party, who represent the families of Ouassim and Sabrina, this race was very disproportionate and therefore unjustified. They argued that the police were able to note the license plate of the motorcycle and thus obtain the identity of its owner, Ouassim. They might therefore have fined him subsequently for the infractions observed, namely excessive speed, a forgotten indicator at a turn and failure to wear regulatory shoes.
For the lawyers, Ouassim should indeed have complied, and the reasons which led him not to do so remain unclear, but the police should have realized that leading a chase was too dangerous, both for the people directly involved but also for any other road user.
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