Some 200 police officers gathered on Friday outside the courthouse in Brussels to show solidarity with the officer arrested in the fatal car chase that took the life of 11-year-old Fabian. The officer appeared in court this morning.
The gathering, organised by front-line police officers, began shortly before 13:00 and was marked by a ten-minute silent sit-in followed by a round of applause. No speeches were made.
Kris Verstraeten, SLFP union representative for the Brussels West area, expressed his discontent with the arrest, stressing that there was no risk of flight or collusion. "Why deprive this young police officer of his freedom?" he said.
On 2 June, Fabian (11) was reportedly stopped by the police while riding an electric scooter through Parc Elisabeth in Ganshoren. He fled, triggering a police chase. The 11-year-old was hit by a police vehicle at around 17:30. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him but he died later in hospital.
On Wednesday, the Prosecutor's Office revealed that the officer (26) who was driving the car was arrested on suspicion of malicious obstruction of traffic resulting in death. The preliminary conclusions of the investigation into the case indicated the police vehicle did not have its blue lights or siren on. Additionally, the car was travelling at over 40 km/h in the park.
During the support rally, officers acknowledged the complexity of the situation but also expressed their frustration and support for their colleague. One of the police officers explained: "It's a scandal. He was just doing his job. The justice system must do its job, but it must not drag us through the mud."
ACV/CSC Police union representative, Joery Dehaes, called for a reform in police training in the country. "We must strengthen training to prevent this type of tragedy from happening again," he said. "This is a tragedy for the child's family, but also for our colleague. It is a situation that no one wanted."
"If there are certainly shortcomings on the part of our colleague, we must absolutely address the gaps in police procedures. We have been calling for a reform of police training for years, which is still only 12 months in Belgium, compared to 2.5 years in the Netherlands and 3 years in Iceland," he added.
Dehaes emphasised the importance of transparency in the ongoing investigation. "We have to wait until the end of the investigation to find out what really happened, but the family and the public need answers," he said.
During the gathering, around 20 people chanted "Justice for Sourour" and "Justice for Fabian." They had gathered in the morning in connection with the case of Sourour Abouda, who died in 2023 while in custody at a police station, to denounce police violence. When the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police asked them to leave, a few scuffles broke out.
