The funeral took place in Liege on Tuesday of the two police officers shot dead in the attack by Benjamin Herman, who was himself later killed by armed officers. Tributes to the two officers came in from across the nation.
The funeral was attended by representatives of police zones throughout the land, to mark the death on duty of Soraya Belkacemi and Lucile Garcia, who were attacked with a knife and then robbed of their service weapons before being shot dead by Herman.
The funeral was also attended by prime minister Charles Michel, home affairs minister Jan Jambon and justice minister Koen Geens, Walloon minister-president Willy Borsus, president of the Senate Christine Defraigne and former prime minister Elio Di Rupo, as well as Prince Laurent (pictured), who said he was there as a private citizen, and not in a royal capacity.
The third victim of Herman, a 22-year-old student named Cyril Vangriecken, had taken place in Vottem on Monday. Cyriel had happened to be passing by the scene of the attack, on his way to his car. His school, the Haute Ecole de Liège-Jonfosse, has decided to open a fund in his name for students of modest means.
Meanwhile Herman himself, whose attack was claimed by ISIS, was buried in a private ceremony in Marche-en-Famenne, in a Christian ceremony attended by a small group of family members and police in civilian clothes. Herman was said to have converted to Islam in 2012.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
