2023-12-05 09:41:00
The Brussels police court on Tuesday sentenced three police officers from the Brussels-Ixelles police zone to prison sentences of 5 to 10 months, half of which were suspended, for involuntary manslaughter due to lack of foresight and precaution. These three police officers had initiated the pursuit of a motorcycle which had committed traffic violations in Ixelles and Brussels on May 9, 2017.
At the end of this pursuit, engaged at high speed, the motorcycle ended its race once morest a police vehicle stopped on the road at the exit of a tunnel on Avenue Louise in Brussels. The pilot Ouassim Toumi and his passenger, Sabrina El Bakkali, died instantly.
In its highly reasoned judgment, the court found that initiating such a prosecution was disproportionate and unnecessary. Having the license plate, they might have later arrested the motorcyclist whose motorbike had not been reported stolen. The risks of such a pursuit were far too great in such an urban environment, the court noted.
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