Nine year cell for Brussels strike

brussels - The man who arrested two police officers a year ago in the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek, has been sentenced to nine years' imprisonment. The Public Prosecutor had demanded fifteen years for what it called a terrorist assassination attempt. However, the court in Brussels ruled that this was not the case.

44-year-old Belg Hicham D. launched an agent in the neck on October 5, 2016 and the second in the stomach. When other agents held the former military and former boxer, one of them broke his nose. D. was shot in his leg.

D. had made statements that were in the direction of a terrorist act. He also appeared to have had contacts with extremist Muslims. His lawyer, however, argued that he acted out of anger about a collision by a federal police vehicle in 2011.

The court followed that reasoning and ruled that there was a revenge practice. Because D. did not continue his attack, he was released from an attempted murder.