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Belgium: Riots follow police shooting

01 November 1997

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The death of a Moroccan youth at the hands of the Rijkswacht (Gendarmerie), in November, led to riots on the streets of Brussels. Anderlecht, an inner-city area, erupted as youths accused Rijkswacht officers of deliberately shooting Said Charki, 24. Home Affairs minister Johan vande Lanotte claimed that the police officers acted in self-defence.

The Rijkswacht version of events is that they had been following Said, who they suspected of being a drug dealer, for some time. Having lost him on Thursday, November 6, they picked him up the following day. He then made a quick getaway and attempted to ram two police cars in the chase that followed, whereupon he was shot.

However, local witnesses tell of a different train of events. They suggest that the police cars were already in position when Said left his house and that they could have prevented him from leaving as he was driving calmly rather than racing away. Other sources claim that forensic evidence suggests that Said was shot from behind and that the car he drove into, after being shot, was hardly damaged. A witness claimed: "I saw them shoot without warning, and they certainly weren't shooting at the tyres".

The riots that followed raged for the whole of the weekend of the 8/9 November, leading to the arrests of over 120 youths. Vande Lanotte claimed that the riots were the work of drug dealers, who had been targeted by the police forces during the last months. Local community workers pointed to the high levels of unemployment in the area to explain the violence.

Local youths, on the other hand, claim that the death of Said is only the latest incident in the continuing targeting of their area by police forces combining high handed tactics with an often overtly racist attitude. One youth, quoted in the NRC Handelsblad, said that Belgium "is a police state, without any rights for immigrants". Another, interviewed by Solidair, stated: "we are sick to death of the murders and the Rijkswacht. This is the third migrant they've killed in this neighbourhood alone."

NRC Handelsblad Weekeditie 11.11.97. Solidair 12.11.97

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