The lawyer for the main suspect in the so-called Matonge Trial said on Tuesday that his client is being treated unfairly.
Prosecutors want him convicted as the head of a criminal organisation, but no such conviction is being sought against the other defendants, he said.
Defence Attorney Guillaume Lys argued before the French-speaking Criminal Court in Brussels that this amounted to discriminatory treatment between defendants. He said the difference was neither justified nor proportionate and breached the Constitution.
No intimidation, threat or corruption
Lys asked the court to refer a preliminary question to the Constitutional Court on whether someone can be convicted as the leader of a criminal organisation when that organisation did not use intimidation, threats, violence, fraud or corruption.
The prosecutor opposed that request. At the start of the trial, the prosecution had acknowledged that there was no intimidation, threat or corruption in the case.
Turning to the substance of the case, Lys rejected the claim that his client, M.B.W.B., controlled the other defendants. He said there was no evidence that M.B.W.B. directed the running of any drug-dealing point.
He also challenged the idea that one man could stand above all 45 other defendants in what prosecutors describe as a criminal organisation. He said he had never seen such an organisation with only a single leader.
Justice requires a sense of proportion
The defence further argued that the telephone evidence was far less incriminating than the prosecution claimed. Lys referred to a 47-second call in a Snapchat group involving M.B.W.B., saying it was far too short to organise any trafficking and adding that his client was later removed from the group.
He also questioned the significance of a 13-minute meeting between defendants in a hotel in the Matonge district, which investigators had described as a key moment in organising the trafficking.
Investigators seized 6 kg of cannabis and 100g of cocaine from M.B.W.B. Lys said similar sentences were being sought in far larger drug trials.
"In the courtroom next door, the defendants are on trial for 600 tonnes of cocaine, with similar charges," Lys said, referring to high-profile trials concerning the importation of narcotics via the port of Antwerp. "Justice requires a sense of proportion," he argued.
Defendant denies being a gang leader
The defence is primarily seeking M.B.W.B.’s acquittal. Alternatively, it wants the charges reclassified so that he is treated not as the leader of a criminal organisation but as a member of an association involved in drug sales.
Lys also disputed the seizure by equivalent value of part of the €6 million that prosecutors say the defendants earned from drug sales over three years around the Matonge shopping arcade.
Speaking after his lawyer, M.B.W.B. said he had never been a leader. He admitted he had wanted to take part in a drug-selling operation to make money, but denied any wider role.
Previous conviction for fatal stabbing
Originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 35-year-old M.B.W.B. arrived in Belgium at the age of 10. He was a runner-up in the Flemish boxing championships.
His trainer is among the defendants on the basis of a police observation carried out outside the Matonge shopping arcade.
M.B.W.B. was sentenced on 16 May 2014 to 22 years in prison by the Brussels Assize Court for a fatal stabbing committed in 2020 outside a nightclub. At the time, he belonged to the Versaillais street gang from Neder-Over-Heembeek.
His lawyer said on Tuesday that he would have been acquitted by a margin of one vote.
€5,000 payment over procedural irregularities
The case later went to the European Court of Human Rights, and the Belgian state paid him €5,000 over procedural irregularities linked to Salduz rights in order to avoid a new assize trial.
M.B.W.B. was released under conditions in 2021. Lys pointed the criminal court judge to a report by a probation officer which, he said, showed his client’s efforts to reintegrate.
A total of 46 defendants are being prosecuted over the sale and possession of an unspecified quantity of cannabis and cocaine in the Matonge district of Ixelles between 2022 and 2025.
Only M.B.W.B. faces the charge of leading a criminal organisation. The others are accused of taking part in an association involved in drug sales.
Judgement on 30 November
Prosecutors are seeking a 10-year prison sentence for M.B.W.B. and 30 to 40 months for the other defendants.
The hearings closed on Tuesday after seven sessions devoted to a large case file that was heavily criticised by defence lawyers. Most said the police observations were incomplete.
Several defence lawyers suggested the prosecution was trying to “clean up” Matonge, an area known for cannabis sales but also a residential and commercial district with historic ties to Brussels’ Congolese diaspora.
Judgment will be delivered on 30 November at 2 p.m. at Justitia in Haren.
