Time is ticking away slowly in the palace of justice in Brussels. The last minutes of Ibrahima Barrie (23) are played on a computer screen at the front of the room. He lies in a fetal position on the floor in a small room. Six minutes and 25 seconds pass. On one side, police officer JV sits behind a computer, his colleague LS puts Barrie’s belongings into sealed bags. A meter away, Barrie lies with his head against the wall and his back against a chair.
Barrie died of heart failure on January 9, 2021. A few days later, 500 people traveled to Brussels. The demonstration degenerated into riots. A number of stories immediately started doing the rounds. Barrie was allegedly arrested for violating the curfew. Or he might have died of a drug overdose. Neither story turned out to be true.
Barrie was at North Station on the evening in question when police checked a group further down the road. He decided to film the scene. Six months earlier, George Floyd died in the US due to police brutality, and the death of Adil Charrot also briefly set the capital on fire. Filming was not to the liking of the officers who came towards Barries. He started running, but was arrested and taken to the Brussels North police station, where he was searched.
From that moment on, everything can be followed on the screen in the court. Three officers circle a handcuffed Barrie. He seems sane at first, but collapses not much later. Two officers pull him up and push him against the wall twice. When he collapses a second time, the officers put him on a chair. His head nods. When the judge asks one of the officers why they did not intervene, the answer is: “This happens often, detainees dare to sell comedy.”
While the officers are working on Barrie’s cell phone, it noticeably deteriorates. He slides off the chair and ends up in an unnatural position on the floor. Only six and a half minutes later does LS start looking. Then all the alarm signals go off. The officers start a chest massage and call the emergency services. To no avail. Barrie dies of heart failure. Later, a small amount of MDMA is found in his blood, insufficient to explain his death.
Because LS and JV were in the same room as Barrie the entire time, they must answer for culpable negligence before the criminal court. The lawyers of the civil parties have also directly summoned the two officers who were only present during the search, because they believe they also bear responsibility for Barrie’s death. The lawyers are asking for a conviction for accidental killing due to lack of caution, with racism as an aggravating circumstance.
Unfortunate coincidence
“It is not prohibited to film police officers. Yet the officers paid more attention to the images on his mobile phone than to Barrie’s condition,” argued Alexis Deswaef, lawyer for the family. “They even deleted images – evidence.” According to him, the officers should have intervened earlier. “If they had called the doctor immediately, it would have taken another 25 minutes to save him.” She did not devote many words to the aggravating ground of racism: “I don’t know whether Ibrahima died because he was black,” De Swaef said. “But I’m sure my white son would never have experienced the same thing.”
The Brussels public prosecutor’s office has a different opinion. It requested the acquittal for JV and LS and called the direct summons of the two other colleagues inadmissible. A remarkable position, because the public prosecutor’s office had previously requested the transfer of JV and LS to the criminal court. “That’s right, we believe this case deserved a public debate about the evidence,” the prosecutor said. “But this is an unfortunate set of circumstances.”
The defendants’ lawyers will speak next Friday.
