A student caught looting a store in Brussels after the Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstration on 7 June has been sentenced to 120 hours' community service.
The person in his twenties was caught trying to take handbags and wallets worth €2,000, but was caught red-handed by the police.
The incident occurred following the peaceful BLM protest in Brussels, which gave way to looting and chaos leading to widespread condemnation from authorities and over 200 arrests.
More than a dozen shops in the high-end Louise area were broken into and trashed as groups of rioters broke off from the mass of some 10,000 demonstrators as they left the gathering spot in Place Poelaert.
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The 22-year-old student was caught by a plain-clothes policeman in the act of looting the Salvatore Ferragamo Brussels Store. The loot could be recovered, although some handbags and wallets were damaged by the theft. The student was arrested and had to answer to the criminal court last month.
At the trial, the defence asked for a suspension of punishment, but the court did not think this was an appropriate response to the looting. The young man, however, was not sentenced to imprisonment, and will instead serve 120 hours of community service.
The Brussels Times
