Family of Brussels Teen Who Died in Police Chase Files Complaint Against Prosecutor

In this communication addressed to the press on November 26, the Brussels public prosecutor’s office announced that it would request a dismissal for the police, reports Belga. "My clients did not understand the need for the Brussels public prosecutor’s office to communicate on the case at this stage, when there is not even a hearing date set before the council chamber, which will have to rule on a dismissal or a referral to the criminal court, and when we still have the possibility of requesting additional investigative duties," explained Alexis Deswaef, the family’s lawyer.

According to his explanations, the problem with this communication is that it does not respect Article 57, paragraph 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which stipulates that ’the public prosecutor may, with the agreement of the investigating judge and when the public interest requires it, communicate information to the press’. "But the public prosecutor did not have the prior agreement of the investigating judge. And the fact that the journalists were pressing him with questions to find out the outcome of the case does not constitute the requirement of a ’public interest’ at this stage of the procedure," he said.

"Except for the exceptions provided for by law, the investigation is secret. And Article 458 of the Criminal Code punishes those who commit the offense of violation of professional secrecy," the lawyer specified, adding that this public communication from the Brussels public prosecutor’s office was a real shock for his clients.

The Brussels public prosecutor’s office had pronounced, on November 26, a dismissal for lack of sufficient charges "against the protagonists of the case and in particular the driver of the police vehicle". The police officers were thus cleared in this case of Adil’s death. This 19-year-old boy had died during a chase, on April 10. His scooter had collided with a police car or had been hit by a police car. This accident occurred with a VIRTUS koban patrol in charge of enforcing the confinement measures.