Suspect in robbery of Quebec MP arrested in Brussels
A man has been arrested in Brussels on suspicion of robbing a Member of Parliament from Quebec, Canada, three weeks ago. The victim was sprayed with tear gas in the face.
The Quebec MP was attacked on 17 February near a shopping street in the city centre of Brussels. The attacker first pretended to ask him the time, only to return moments later with two accomplices. The trio then knocked the victim to the ground, sprayed him with tear gas and stole his wristwatch.
“The public prosecutor's office was informed and requested an investigating judge,” the Brussels public prosecutor's office reported on Monday. "On 4 March, five inspectors from the Brussels Capital Ixelles police zone noticed two men behaving suspiciously while on patrol in the centre of Brussels. They were looking very intently at the watches and necklaces of passers-by. The inspectors decided to follow them and recognised one of them: he was one of the suspects in the crimes committed on 17 February."
The police then arrested the two suspects, one for theft and the other for possession of tear gas. Both were handed over to the public prosecutor's office.
“One suspect was questioned by an investigating judge, who placed him under arrest warrant,” the public prosecutor's office continued. "He was charged as the perpetrator or accomplice of robbery with violence or threats, in a gang, at night, with a weapon and an incapacitating substance, and with a vehicle to ensure escape. The investigation into the other suspects is continuing."
Illustration © BELGA PHOTO JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE
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