The ordeal of Sanda Dia, a Belgian student who died in 2018 for an initiation rite, had moved Belgium; and now the sentence of his torturers, judged by many to be too light, is sparking controversy. The young man was forced to drink large quantities of fish oil and alcohol, swallow a live goldfish, remain outdoors in an icy pit for hours: it was the ritual for joining a youth fraternity of one of the most prestigious universities in the Village.
On the third day of “baptism,” his body gave out: he collapsed and died in hospital. More than four years later, the eighteen colleagues of the young man, who unlike them was of modest origin, were sentenced to small fines and civil service.
The judges found them guilty not of intentionally administering a harmful and deadly substance, but of manslaughter and degrading treatment.
And now the debate has been unleashed, especially among young people, on social media and in student circles, that such a lenient sentence is tinged with racism and classism. According to Belgian media, some members of the brotherhood are the sons of politicians and judges.
In recent days, the sentence has given rise to demonstrations and protests in Brussels, Ghent, Louvain and Antwerp. The hashtag ‘#justiceforsanda’ on TikTok has gained over 6.5 million views. A Youtuber, Acid, has revealed the identity of some defendants.
And in Ghent, the names of the boys were engraved, together with the inscription «The assassins of Reuzegom» (the name of the brotherhood) on the walls of a street called «the street of graffiti» (a street destined to host murals, but which municipal authorities immediately cleaned up).
The condemnation is also inflaming politics: the president of the Flemish Christian Democrats, Sammy Mahdi denounced in a video on TikTok and Twitter the too light sentences but also the “witch hunt” against the youtuber who “did nothing but that that journalists do every day.
The magistrates’ response was immediate and, through the trade association, they invited politics to respect the sentence, avoid “declarations that disturb society” and to “do everything possible to restore citizens’ trust in the institutions”.
“Everyone is angry and disappointed with the Belgian judicial system,” said Eliza Plesea, a 22-year-old student who co-organized the Brussels protest; and you recalled that in Belgium, the fines for not paying the bus fare are higher than those received by students.
One of the youths’ defense attorneys, John Maes, called the sentences “balanced and well reasoned.” But Jean Kitenge, also an organizer of the protests and a student, believes that race “definitely” played a role in Dia’s death; humiliation and aberrant situations are widespread in the initiation rites of Belgian universities, but some students – he said – are exposed to more extreme situations than others: “Justice is not the same for everyone in Belgium”.