The Hasselt correctional court delivered verdicts on Wednesday in three cases related to the clashes between Kurds and Turks in Heusden-Zolder in March 2024.
Four convicted rioters received community service sentences ranging up to 90 hours and a six-month prison sentence, while a fifth female defendant was acquitted.
The unrest erupted on Sunday, 24 March 2024, in Kolderstraat, Heusden-Zolder, when a convoy of Kurdish PKK supporters travelled from Leuven to Heusden-Zolder following the Kurdish spring festival with flags and images of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. The Police Intervention Plan (PIP) was declared, and further disturbances occurred in Houthalen-Helchteren.
The 31-year-old defendant, B.K. from Beringen, was sentenced to 70 hours of community service and fined €400 for making threats and inciting hatred and violence. He was part of a WhatsApp group calling for attacks on PKK supporters’ vehicles. The court considered his stable family and professional situation and his remorse when determining the penalty.
Defendant M.O. was sentenced in absentia to six months in prison and fined €400 for assault and destroying a house window. Police bodycams identified him as the person who broke the window. “An officer sustained injuries when glass cut her hand. She had never experienced such rage throughout her career,” said the public prosecutor. The civil party was awarded €800 in damages.
The third case involved theft of a flag, obstructing the road, and assault. Female defendant M.H. was acquitted, while her 20-year-old brother M.Y. was sentenced to 70 hours of community service for intentional assault, without the aggravating circumstance of hate based on the victim’s nationality.
K.T., a 28-year-old defendant from Heusden-Zolder, was sentenced to 90 hours of community service for stealing a flag and obstructing the road. The court deemed community service a meaningful punishment that allows defendants to contribute positively to society. Compensation was awarded to the civil parties.
