© Jan Van der Perre, Marc Herremans
Antwerp –
The mother of Amir Bachrouri, outgoing chairman of the Flemish Youth Council, has been sentenced to two years in prison with a suspension and an 8,000 euro fine. The Antwerp Court of Appeal found it proven that Fatima B. (49) was aware of the almost 22 kilos of cocaine that her brother had stored in her bedroom in Borgerhout. She was acquitted at first instance.
On September 6, 2022, the police carried out a search of the apartment of Fatima B. and her two children after an anonymous report about a large quantity of narcotics allegedly located there. Almost 22 kilos of cocaine were found in the woman’s bedroom, hidden in a suitcase, safe and shoe box. Police also found a bag containing 860 grams of cannabis.
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Fatima B., her son Amir and her minor daughter stated that they knew nothing about the drugs and pointed to her brother Mourad B. from Anderlecht. He had a key and came by two or three times a week, even when they weren’t home. A year earlier he had left the suitcase and safe with them. They were not allowed to touch anything or ask questions. The only thing he wanted to say was that there were clothes in the suitcase and savings in the safe. When he came to visit, he always went to the bedroom and closed the door. “To pray,” he had once said.
Mourad B. was arrested and confessed that he had been trading cocaine by the kilo for three years. He said he kept the cannabis for a friend. He kept the drugs with his sister because the risk of theft in his own apartment was too great. According to him, she was not informed. The criminal court of Antwerp gave Fatima B. the benefit of the doubt last year and acquitted her. Mourad B. was sentenced to four years in prison, of which one year suspended, and accepted the verdict. The public prosecutor’s office appealed against Fatima B.’s acquittal.
Co-perpetrator
The court found it proven that she knew about the drugs. “Mourad B. could only be sure that his narcotics were safe with his sister if she was aware of what he kept in her apartment and had consented to it,” the judgment said. According to the court, the fact that the suitcase and safe were not locked and the shoebox was simply in her wardrobe showed that he had no fear of her reaction if she discovered the drugs. “All of this contradicts her claim that she would not have known what he kept in her bedroom.”
The court regarded Fatima B. as a co-perpetrator in her brother’s drug trafficking. He could use his key to enter and exit her apartment at will to get supplies. By offering Mourad B. an accessible and safe storage facility for his narcotics, she provided him with necessary assistance in his large-scale trade in cannabis and cocaine, according to the court. The judgment was pronounced last Friday, but the news only became known now.