Five men of Armenian origin involved in a shooting in the Brussels commune of Etterbeek in July 2024 were sentenced on Friday by the Brussels correctional court. The sentences range from four months to six years in prison.
A 37-year-old man was seriously injured in the shooting, which occurred on 1 July 2024 around 22:00 at Le Calypso café near the La Chasse crossroads.
Police from the Montgomery zone, alerted by gunshots, found a man shot in the arm, hip, and buttock. The man was taken to hospital in a critical condition. Inside the bar, officers discovered bullet casings from three different calibres.
The specific motives behind the shooting remain unclear, but according to the suspects, it was related to a divorce dispute within the Armenian community.
Surveillance cameras captured six men entering the café and engaging in conversation with the victim before the situation quickly escalated.
One of the men, identified as K.K., attempted to attack the victim but was restrained. He then pulled out a gun and fired in his direction. Two other men, K.H. and T.L., also fired shots. The victim tried to flee before collapsing.
A fight then broke out, during which a fourth man, A.G., allegedly grabbed K.K.'s gun and attempted to shoot a witness. When the police intervened, a fifth man, A.K., was found in possession of a knife.
The prosecution charged the first three shooters, K.K., K.H. and T.L., with attempted murder, the fourth suspect, A.G., with attempted manslaughter, and the fifth suspect, A.K., with possession of a prohibited weapon.
The lawyer for K.K. argued that there had been no attempt to murder anyone. "The CCTV footage shows that the discussion was calm at first," argued K.K.'s lawyer, Dimitri de Béco.
K.H.'s lawyer argued a similar point: "The victim himself stated that the atmosphere had completely changed when he said 'something rude'. This shows that my client and his companions did not go there with the intention or plan to kill the victim. Otherwise, they would have opened fire as soon as they arrived."
The defence for A.G., who is charged with attempted murder, requested acquittal. "My client was there as a friend of the victim and suddenly saw this group of men attacking and shooting at his friend. He was able to grab K.K.'s gun and pretended to shoot, but he knew the gun was empty. His only goal was to stop the attack. Furthermore, even if he had fired, it would have been in self-defence."
These pleas did not convince the court. The first three shooters, K.K., K.H. and T.L., were sentenced to six years in prison for attempted murder, while A.G. received four years for attempted manslaughter. The fifth suspect, A.K., was sentenced to four months in prison for possession of prohibited weapons.
