The Brussels prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday that it had opened an investigation into “involuntary manslaughter” after a 23-year-old man lost consciousness at a police station shortly after his arrest. He later died at the hospital.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Liedts Square in central Brussels. The video on the spot showed an argument while protesters threw stones and projectiles while police fired a water cannon.
Some protesters wore Black Lives Matter signs and shouted, “We want the truth.”
The car of Belgian King Philippe was “briefly blocked” nearby, the palace told CNN, and the vehicle was hit by several projectiles thrown at police officers around the monarch’s convoy.
The king himself was not the target and “his security was never endangered,” they said.
A death in police custody
The death that precipitated Wednesday’s protests took place on Saturday, after the police “checked” a group of people who gathered despite the coronavirus measures that limit the public meetings, it is shown in a statement of the prosecutor’s office.
A man – identified as Ibrahima B. by the lawyer representing his family – “fled on foot and was taken for questioning by police”, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
“When he arrived at the police station, IB lost consciousness and the police officers present called the emergency services. An ambulance and an emergency team arrived on the scene and IB was taken to hospital. died at the hospital at 20:22 “, the statement added.
Speaking at a demonstration on his death on Wednesday, the family’s lawyer Alexis Deswaef told Belgian television: “I know one thing – if it were my son, who is white and of the same age, it would not have happened.”
Deswaef told CNN that “the family was told their son had a heart abnormality,” but that “this will not be the only cause of death.”
The toxicology tests “show traces of narcotics,” the lawyer added, but they “would not explain the death.”
Responding to the protests, Federal Police Commissioner General Marc De Mesmaeker said on Thursday: “We can understand that emotions are rising … but the way this has been done is completely unacceptable.”
He accused the protesters of committing “vandalism” and said five police officers were injured in the riots.
Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said on Twitter on Wednesday: “We cannot accept in any way what happened today … The riots will not escape imposition.”