Brussels Court to Rule on Fatal 2017 Police Chase Case

The "Ouassim and Sabrina" case was discussed on Thursday, June 3, before the Brussels Chamber of Council. The Brussels public prosecutor’s office requested a dismissal for the police officers accused of killing the two young people, reports BX1. As for the lawyer for the victims’ families, she requested that the police officers be referred to the criminal court. "The judge listened to the families, Callewaert said. For her part, the prosecutor did not respond to their arguments. She believes that the only one responsible for the death of Sabrina and Ouassim is Ouassim, and that the police officers made no mistake."

The facts occurred around 9:30 p.m. on May 9, 2017. A police patrol had chased Ouassim Toumi, 24, and Sabrina El Bakkali, 20, who were on a motorcycle. It had noticed that the motorcyclist was driving recklessly. Two other patrols had also joined the chase of the motorcyclist. The motorcycle collided with the rear left of a patrol vehicle from the local police canine brigade of Brussels-Capital-Ixelles. Ouassim Toumi died on the spot. His passenger, Sabrina, died at the hospital later that night.

The families of the victims condemn this chase engaged for two alleged violations of the Highway Code. They believe it was illegal, unnecessary and disproportionate. "We will continue our fight for justice to be done and for such tragedies never to happen again," they said Thursday in front of the Brussels courthouse.