Court-ordered internment for Yassine Mahi after the murder of a police officer in Belgium

The decision puts an end to a month of deliberation. Following the opinion of the experts and the request of the civil parties, the court has determined that the accused was not responsible for his actions at the time of the events. He will therefore be interned, provisionally in the Haren prison.

The case has highlighted a profile of rare complexity. The psychiatrists summed up the situation with this terrible sentence: Yassine Mahi is neither "a criminal to be punished, nor a sick person to be cared for, he is both".

The investigation has confirmed this dual aspect. On the one hand, a proven radicalization: the man was on file, under surveillance, and possessed more than 300 Salafist works. He wanted to attack the Belgian state.

On the other hand, a shattered mental health. The thirty-year-old said he "heard voices" and lived in constant persecution delusions.

The tragedy of November 10, 2022 is the result of this explosive mixture. A few hours before the attack, Mahi had sought help from the police, before fleeing the hospital.

Frustrated and convinced that they were mocking him, he slipped into a murderous psychosis by attacking the patrol of Thomas Monjoie. A "destructive day" that results in a definitive exclusion from society, but within a framework of care.