2023-10-19 12:30:00
Omar Ettaleb was sentenced Thursday by the Liège Assize Court to life imprisonment pronounced in absentia. He was found guilty of committing robbery with aggravating circumstances of murder on Ilyas Kösker on June 28, 2019. His immediate arrest was ordered. Zakaria El Bouraqui was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the same offenses.
Ilyas Kösker, a 44-year-old from Liége, disappeared on June 28, 2019. His body, charred, decapitated and in the form of a skeleton, was discovered on August 8, 2019 in a wood in the commune of Érezée. The investigation showed that he had left his home to go sell a vehicle. He had fallen into a deadly ambush.
Omar Ettaleb and Zakaria El Bouraqui were found guilty of theft with the aggravating circumstance of murder. Sami Gallout, initially suspected of complicity, was acquitted, the jury having found that he did not take any punishable participation.
In the motivation for their decision on guilt, the jurors noted that it was Omar Ettaleb who played a central role and who was the author of the fatal shooting. Zakaria El Bouraqui was co-perpetrator of the facts.
The events had been planned between them and the preparatory elements had been carried out together. Omar Ettaleb was considered the author of setting up the ambush and had played a leading role. He had given the green light to the commission of the facts and had resold the stolen vehicles. He was at the initiative of all the steps. He had also tried to shift responsibility for the facts onto other people. Zakaria El Bouraqui was co-author, because his assistance was decisive.
The jury also accepted the obvious homicidal intent of the perpetrators, with a shot with fatal consequences. The jurors further underlined the composure of the accused, who had taken care to clean the crime scene and developed means to make the corpse disappear. The jury believed that Omar Ettaleb was the one who gained a real advantage from the disappearance of the victim.
Omar Ettaleb was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment. The jury takes into account the extreme seriousness of the acts committed with cold blood, revealing cruelty and unacceptable contempt for human life, his role as instigator, his lack of remorse, his personality and his risk of recidivism . The man fled on Monday morning by removing his electronic bracelet.
Zakaria El Bouraqui was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The jury takes into account mitigating circumstances linked to his lack of criminal record and the indispensable but not main role he played.
1697730402
#Liège #Assizes #Omar #Ettaleb #sentenced #life #imprisonment #Zakaria #Bouraqui #receives #years #prison
