The Brussels correctional court handed down a 15-month suspended prison sentence to a man who stabbed a bar owner after he was asked to show his Covid Safe Ticket (CST) in October 2021.
The incident took place on 16 October around 1:15 at night in a bar in the Rue des Poissonniers in the centre of Brussels City, and resulted in a number of other bar owners asking the city for security guards to prevent similar incidents.
According to the bar owner's lawyer, the man was sent away from the bar because he was drunk and could not present a CST, which proves that a person is fully vaccinated, recently tested negative for Covid-19 or recovered from the virus in the past six months.
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According to the court, surveillance footage showed the proprietor pushing the man out, but he kept hanging around and repeatedly returned to the bar, after which the proprietor made it clear that he was not wanted, reports the Belga News Agency.
A female customer tried to calm down both the owner and the man, but the latter entered the bar again and stabbed the owner with a pocket knife.
According to the public prosecutor, the man already had the knife in his hand when he entered the bar the last time, but this is disputed by the defence. It could not be determined from the surveillance footage.
