Elsene –
The Brussels Court of Appeal has sentenced a Dutch man of African origin to 15 years in prison for torture. The man ripped out his victim’s eyes during an argument about politics. “In the first instance, the perpetrator was sentenced to 9 years in prison, but given the cruelty and ultimate barbarity of the acts committed, he was given a heavier sentence on appeal,” the public prosecutor’s office reports.
Thursday, December 21, 2023 at 6:51 PM
The facts date from November 6, 2016. A taxi driver informed the police at night when he found a man bleeding profusely near Marsveldplein.
The victim appeared to have lost both eyes. The organs and the knife used in the incident were found a little further away. The victim was taken to hospital in critical condition and hovered between life and death for several days. The man, a Belgian of African origin, survived the whole event but is blind for life.
“The reconstruction of the facts shows that the suspect, after a heated political discussion that had taken place the day before, attacked the victim on a public road, inflicting serious blows on him and ultimately pulling out both his eyes with his hands “, says An Schoonjans of the Brussels Public Prosecutor’s Office. “The facts are exceptionally serious and demonstrate extreme cruelty and the impact on the victim is enormous.”
Fifteen years in prison
In March this year, the perpetrator was sentenced to nine years in prison by the criminal court, but both he and the public prosecutor’s office appealed against that sentence.
“During the hearing of the Court of Appeal, the General Prosecutor’s Office demanded a significantly heavier sentence, namely a prison sentence of fifteen years and a disqualification from rights for fifteen years, given the cruelty and ultimate barbarity of the acts committed, from which the The suspect’s absolute disregard for others appears,” says Schoonjans.
“The court fully followed the Public Prosecution Service in its claims and ultimately sentenced the defendant to fifteen years in prison and fifteen years of disqualification.”
Straight to jail
The man was immediately arrested at the end of the hearing and transferred to prison, where he will serve his sentence.