Belgian prosecutors have requested the appointment of an investigative judge after the death of a black man, 23, who was detained by police last week in Brussels.
The Brussels prosecutor’s office announced the request Wednesday as about 300 protesters, some of them holding Black Lives Matter signs, gathered in Belgium’s capital on Wednesday.
They called on authorities to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the man’s death on Saturday night. He was publicly identified only with the initials IB.
The prosecutor’s office said IB was arrested after he tried to run away from police officers checking a group of people in downtown Brussels, despite Covid-19 measures restricting social gatherings.
He was taken to a police station where he fainted and then transferred to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the office said.
Prosecutors said Belgium’s Comite P, an independent body overseeing police services, is investigating and a coroner has been appointed to perform a post-mortem examination and toxicology tests.
Belgian media reported that IB had started to record the police with his smartphone on Saturday when officers decided to carry out an identity check on him.
The prosecutor’s office said it seized video surveillance images from the police station and at the scene of the man’s arrest.
IB's family and lawyer met the chief prosecutor on Wednesday morning.
The prosecutor’s office said the family was given guarantees that “all means are and will be implemented to shed light on what happened".
The demonstration in downtown Brussels was largely peaceful, although some protesters later threw objects at police officers and set fires in the street.
At one point, a car carrying Belgium’s King Philippe passed close to protesters and the driver changed routes under police protection.
The Royal Palace said the king was inside the car but was never in a dangerous situation, AP reported.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The years Ramadan fell in May
if you go
