Sabine pushed the orange Alert us button to denounce a situation that she has been experiencing for more than 10 months. His son Guillaume, 22, was seriously attacked in March 2021 by a gang of minors in Liège. Since then, this mother has the impression that these young people can live freely without constraint, while her son is still suffering from serious consequences. He is monitored four times a week by doctors. According to a lawyer, minors are not unpunished but many criteria must be taken into account in the judgment.
“Our son was attacked by a group of minors on March 26 in Liège. Our situation as a victim has had a lot of disastrous consequences for him and lifelong consequences. Every day since the attack, my mind is occupied by this tragedy. The tears that I shed have no value for this justice, this youth protection which protects these delinquents at all costs. What is the law which protected my child? The victims are forgotten, left aside. ” It was angry and distraught that Sabine pushed the orange Alert us button to explain her situation and that of her son.
Guillaume, 22, was indeed heavily beaten by young people near the Boverie park in Liège in March 2021. He does not remember anything but he tells us what his friends described to him following his attack. “I was sitting with a friend on a bench along the water, opposite the Parc de la Boverie. Three people came up to the girls next to us. My friend wanted to go and tell them to stop annoy. But he was assaulted, he received a blow to the nose which was fractured”, explains Guillaume. In wanting to help his friend, the young man then took a major blow behind the head. “I fell unconscious”, he said. But despite his condition, the three miners continued to beat him, which is probably what caused the serious injuries he still suffers from today. “He had two skull fractures, several cerebral hemorrhages, cerebral edema…”details his mother, still very shocked by this dramatic event.
I want the people who are going to decide to know life following an assault
The Liègeois was hospitalized for a good week following his attack. He keeps a few flashes of it but the memories are vague. “The doctors say that it was due to the shock I had in the head that I lost my memory before and following”, slips Guillaume. Besides memory loss, he also suffers from dizziness and loss of balance. “I also lost taste and smell as that nerve was hit during the assault. And I had edema to the right above my eye so with the brain scarring it happens to me to just have pain there.”
These physical consequences are difficult to bear on a daily basis, tells us the young man who has always liked to be very active. “I’ve always liked to be on the move, I’ve never liked staying at home doing nothing. I had started working as a refrigeration mechanic, it’s a job that I really liked. I am unable to work because my job is to climb a lot on ladders but now I have loss of balance. And for activities like sports, I have a lot more difficult to do because I will have my head spinning… It’s really annoying not being able to do what I want”regrets our interlocutor.
He now sees four doctors a week for cognitive rehabilitation and vestibular physio. “These are things that, on a daily basis, are heavy. It’s very heavy because we feel alone in the face of all this”denounces his mother who has the impression that the victims are always sidelined in legal cases. “I want the people who are going to decide to know life following an attack. We talk a lot regarding the attackers in the investigation but we talk very little regarding the victims, their victim”, she believes. Sabine claims to have had to take all the steps herself to have her son taken care of by specialists. “No one came to see Guillaume spontaneously. The medical consultations are because we push the doors. We need someone to help us with the procedures, in particular administrative.”
A police assistance service for victims
In reality, aid does exist for victims of aggression. This is called the police victim assistance service. There are some in all the police zones, according to the means of each. “With us, we automatically analyze police interventions and we reconnect with the victims, those people who have experienced a potentially traumatic event. We send a letter, we call… to offer this service”, explains Anne-Françoise Anciaux, criminologist and psycho-traumatologist at the Brussels-Capital-Ixelles police zone. Proactive work that allows victims to feel supported and supervised. “Of course, if there is no contact or support or just a proposal for help, you can quickly feel isolated because the workings of justice are complex. If you don’t explain how the complaint, the procedure… You can quickly feel very lost”she continues.
We must provide information on what is happening
For Anne-Françoise Anciaux, it is important to come quickly “to fill with a presence, warmth to put an end to the feeling of the ordeal experienced. The sooner support is put in place, the sooner the person can get out of this moment of isolation.” The police assistance service for victims can also refer these people to therapists and specialists suited to their needs. The criminologist also indicates that references “in time” are essential to enable the victims to move forward. “Explain when we are going to proceed to such a hearing, that such information is needed to start the file… We must give information on what is moving forward. We must take them by the hand, it is important”, she points out. This is exactly what Guillaume’s mother criticizes. Ten months following the assault, she claims they have no news. “At the level of the investigation, I would like to say it, there were two inspectors who took charge of the investigation directly and there were results almost immediately in the days that followed. But today today, there is no follow-up”laments Sabine.
No justice for minors?
The family now knows who Guillaume’s attackers are. These are three minors, one of whom has, it seems, been placed in a Public Institution for the Protection of Youth (IPPJ). For two other authors, we have no information. Despite our requests, the Liège public prosecutor’s office did not wish to communicate on this file. “I’m afraid that over time, Guillaume’s attack will become a news item. And that’s what is happening because there is no way to punish or condemn because they are minors, so we will not be able to do anything to them. Yes, one of them was placed in IPPJ but it is not only him. They were several to have hit Guillaume “denounces the mother of the young man.
We have an approach to protect the offender once morest himself and prevent him from reoffending
But the impression that minors are never punished by law is actually not true. As confirmed by a lawyer specializing in youth protection, the feeling of impunity is linked to the fact that the sanction measures do not arrive immediately following the fact. “The judge will analyze the situation, see if there are signs of guilt in the file. He will also ask himself the question of what is best for both society and for the young person. We have an approach to protect the delinquent once morest himself and prevent him from recidivism and stop attacking society”developer Xavier Van Der Smissen.
The interest of the minor therefore always takes precedence in legal cases. The judge will take into account many criteria before making his decision: the education of the minor, his situation at home, if he has psychiatric problems, in particular. “If family support is not possible, because it is not adequate, he risks reoffending or he does not understand that what he has done is wrong, then we consider a placement if he is over 14. We will extract him from his family and place him either in an open environment or in a closed environment for the most serious cases”adds the lawyer.
Little place in youth protection institutions
Justice is therefore not more lax for minors but it takes into account the fact that the young person has not “completed its evolution”. “They still have to learn things. We can hope that the young person will realize the seriousness of his gesture and, through contact with psychologists, educators, parents who reprimand him, he will be able to evolve and become a good person and a responsible adult”notes our interlocutor.
Xavier Van Der Smissen also points to another important factor to take into account: the place in the institutions. “The investigating judge can place as many people as he wants behind bars for adults. There is no quota and it is not a question of available space or not. In minors, it is not is not like that at all. There has to be space available”he said.
Thus, if the judge faces a minor offender who has committed a serious act, he may immediately wish to place him in an open or closed environment. Unfortunately, if the IPPJ do not have a place, he will not be able to make this decision. You will have to wait for a place to become available. This is never the case for adults. “Minors do not go unpunished, but there is less space in institutions and more attention is paid to their comfort and education”concludes the lawyer specializing in youth protection.