The integrity of Belgium's justice system has once more been put in the spotlight after the sad death of Sanda Dia, a young student who died in a hazing ritual – unofficial initiation ceremonies that have become notorious at universities.
The 20-year-old died of hypothermia and organ failure in 2018 after being forced to drink copious amounts of alcohol and fish oil. It took five years before members of the student group – "Reuzegommers" in Dutch – received a sentence. With the anonymity of the implicated students strongly guarded, 18 individuals were each sentenced to a fine of €400 each and 200 or 300 hours' community service per member.
The ruling attracted widespread criticism, with many public commentators pointing out that those responsible for the young man's death are from affluent backgrounds – among them sons of lawyers and a judge. Dia, whose father was a Senegalese refugee, was subjected to humiliation and physically excruciating treatment on the night of his death.
The words of his father immediately after the ruling in March last year: "I am angry at the young gentlemen here and I am angry at their parents. When I held my son's hand in hospital on 5 December 2018 because I did not want to let go, those parents were busy with their attorneys, Belgium's top lawyers."
Others shared his sense of injustice; a popular Flemish YouTuber who calls himself Acid (real name Nathan Vandergunst) vowed to unveil the identities of the accused and duly did so, with his video circulated widely online. It was subsequently taken down and Vandergunst was sued by one of the Reuzegommers and his family. Throughout the proceedings Vandergunst was unrepentant, indeed defiant that the case against him served only to illustrate his point: that "money always wins in Belgium."
The 24-year-old was yesterday convicted, handed a three-month suspended prison sentence as well as a fine of €800. Moreover, he must pay €20,000 damages – a substantial sum he afterwards said should go to Sanda Dia's family rather than those responsible for his death.
Whilst the judge said Vandergunst was guilty of "malicious online shaming and cyber-bullying", many are sympathetic to his intentions, if not necessarily his method. One lawyer lamented that in Belgium, "material damage is often compensated for much better than human life". Meanwhile, questions of racial and class -motivated double standards are hot topics in national media.
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