Belgian-Moroccan Ex-Councillor Cleared in Antwerp Drug Trafficking Case

"Of course! I have always demonstrated my innocence from the beginning. For me, all of this was political. I ran for election again, but this case kept coming up and it impacted me. People were marked by it, I was made out to be the biggest dealer in Brussels when none of it was true. Fortunately, my director at the time trusted me, because she knew I didn’t have access to this information," Hicham Chakir testifies to La Dernière Heure.

The facts date back to 2022. The former socialist municipal councillor of Molenbeek-Saint and customs officer had been placed under arrest warrant on September 22, 2022, for acts labeled as money laundering and passive corruption. The Brussels indictment chamber had ordered the release under conditions of Hicham Chakir (PS) and he had been released on September 26 by the Council Chamber, but the prosecutor’s office had appealed. At the time, he was working near Brussels-Midi station. A railway police officer he often encounters approaches him to obtain the location of a seized container containing 400 kg of cocaine at the port of Antwerp. "He approached me at my home around 11 pm, the next morning, it was reported to my superior," sighs Hicham Chakir.

"If he doesn’t make this report, there is no case. What’s astounding is that all the elements that exonerate my client were already there at the time of his arrest. We just have an investigating judge who didn’t bother to read the elements of the file," comments his lawyer Karim Sedad. When Hicham remembers the two weeks spent in prison, it’s with dismay. "This judge (the one in charge of this investigation, Ed.) ran his own campaign with DéFi on my back. I was accused of being a corrupt customs officer when I was just doing my job. Can we put someone in prison for nothing, shock their children and ruin a life just like that?" the former municipal councillor fumes.

"This case is also a typical example of the harm that the media tribunal can do," his lawyer sighs in turn. Recalling the circumstances of his arrest, Hicham specifies that he had never been intercepted at the airport upon disembarking at Zaventem airport (Brussels). "I was in Morocco just when the police searched my home in Brussels. They told me to present myself once I returned. There was no arrest at the airport as it was written, I had offered to turn myself in at the police station, but they told me I would receive a summons. Finally, when I arrived home, they took me in. I don’t understand, I know I’m not linked to anything in this story and if I had something to reproach myself for, I would have stayed in Morocco," he says.

This case has forced Hicham to take a career break for a year. "In 36 years in Belgium, I had never had anything to do with the Justice system. I took a career break because I couldn’t stand the looks from people and my colleagues because of the articles that appeared. Now, I would like it to be talked about in a positive way," explains the 52-year-old man. And he rejoices: "The relief is total, finally the truth comes out!"

As for the police officer and a second suspect involved in the case, they have been referred to the Brussels correctional court.