On 28 July, a 22-year-old biomedical sciences student named Oussama Haddade was asleep in bed in his family's home in Anderlecht, when, shortly before midnight, he was surprised by his eight-year-old brother saying a man was threatening their mother in their garden.
In an interview with RTBF, Haddade claims he ran outside and punched the man, not realising in the panic and darkness that the man was in uniform and carrying a torch. The man, it turns out, was a police officer, part of an anti-banditry unit chasing a suspect who had leapt into the garden during a pursuit.
Haddade has made allegations regarding the police and what happened next. He claims that after attempting to cooperate with police, he was kicked, handcuffed, had his head slammed into the ground and was bundled barefoot into a police car by officers from the Brussels-West zone. In the vehicle, he says, he was subjected to a beating that included punches, racial abuse, slurs and instructions to "break his ribs".
Haddade maintains the alleged attack continued at the hospital he was taken to. He alleges that there, inside a windowless room, two police officers beat him again, told each other to "have a go", and brought in the officer he had struck, who proceeded to insult him.
Haddade was later taken to the police station and then placed in a cell. By the following afternoon, he was brought to the Palais de Justice in Brussels, where he was formally charged with assaulting a public official (the officer he mistakenly attacked) and released. He says he stepped out onto Place Poelaert alone, still in his pyjamas.
He would eventually seek treatment at a second hospital, Saint-Pierre, where according to him, medical staff documented significant injuries: a broken rib, bruises, hair torn from his scalp, and facial trauma. According to medical experts who examined him, his injuries could be consistent with his account.
Yesterday, the Brussels public prosecutor released a statement responding to some of Haddade's claims. According to the public prosecutor, the police officer involved in the initial altercation with Haddade was "seriously injured" and "will be unable to work for several days".
The statement said: "On the night of Sunday July 27 to Monday July 28, at around 11pm, the anti-banditry brigade of the Brussels-West zone carried out a vehicle check on rue de Birmingham in Anderlecht. Three people were in the vehicle. During the check, one of them fled in the direction of rue James Ensor. The man jumped over a fence and ended up in the garden of a house. The fugitive, a 23-year-old man of no fixed abode in Belgium, was the subject of a capture order for a 9-year prison sentence handed down by the Brussels Correctional Court for acts including the rape of a young woman.
"Police were able to locate the fugitive in the garden, using a ladder. One of the building's occupants allegedly physically assaulted a police officer, striking him several times and seriously injuring him. The policeman was wearing his uniform and bullet-proof vest, leaving no doubt as to his official status. The policeman will be unable to work for several days. The suspect, a 22-year-old man, attempted to flee when police reinforcements arrived. He resisted arrest, but was brought under control by the police.
"He had already been reprimanded by the Brussels Youth Court in 2021 for gang rebellion, assault and battery and carrying a prohibited weapon.The man who had initially fled from the vehicle control was also apprehended by the police and remanded to Haren prison.The Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office was informed and opened an investigation into the facts. The case has been referred to an examining magistrate. The suspect was charged with violence causing injury against a person in authority, with incapacity for work, and released on conditions. In the interests of the investigation, the public prosecutor's office will make no further comment."
Haddade has reportedly filed a complaint to the Committee P, the internal police oversight body. He has now been charged with assaulting a public official and released under conditions. According to the public prosecutor's office, the fugitive the police were originally pursuing was eventually caught.
"The suspect's statement that he didn't know it was a police officer is his own fault. That doesn't change the fact that it was an attack on a police officer in duty. That's a serious offence," says Jean-Marc Goessens to Bruzz. Credit : Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
Jean-Marc Goessens, spokesperson for the Brussels-West police zone, confirmed to Bruzz that a chase took place last week in which a police officer was injured, but condemned Haddade's response. "The suspect's statement that he didn't know it was a police officer is his own fault," he said. "That doesn't change the fact that it was an attack on a police officer in duty. That's a serious offence."
Incidents such as this once again raise the issue of police bodycams and patrol cameras being introduced to assist in determining the facts of such events. Last year, 64 formal complaints of police brutality were filed against Brussels-West zone alone, putting it in the top five nationally.
