Charge against officer involved in fatal police chase is 'overreaction', lawyers say
The police officer involved in the fatal police chase that killed an 11-year-old boy in Ganshoren, Brussels, was charged with malicious obstruction of traffic resulting in death and placed under electronic surveillance last week. That is a “gross overreaction”, according to his lawyers.
The incident occurred during a police pursuit of three boys on electric scooters. According to the lawyers, the officers were following internal orders to monitor scooter activity, which often leads to accidents. One boy stopped immediately, another escaped, and a third, Fabian, was chased before the fatal crash occurred.
"It is completely unclear why he would be a danger to public safety"
The officer who was driving during the chase was charged with malicious obstruction of traffic resulting in death and placed under electronic surveillance. His lawyers, Sven Mary and Maxime Lauria, are not pleased with how the case has been handled so far.
The officer was arrested "under the guise of the 'absolute necessity for public safety',," Mary said. "This is about an officer who commutes four hours back and forth daily from his home town to carry out his day job as a police officer. It is completely unclear why he would be a danger to public safety."
Emotional impact
The officers involved maintain that the vehicle's flashing lights and siren were on during the puruist, though that has been contradicted by initial findings from a traffic expert. The lawyers said they were unable to verify or contradict the report. They also stressed that any potential discrepancies between the officer's testimony and other findings in the investigation are in no way deliberate.
"Our client cooperated fully with the investigation by the committee, and in it he was interrogated for 10 hours," the lawyers said. "One can perhaps imagine that a young officer, whose aim was to protect the population but who had caused the death of a child just three days earlier, was deeply affected by that tragedy?"
Lawyers Sven Mary and Maxime Lauria © BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE
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