A chief inspector of the Brussels police has been sentenced to six months in prison for racist behavior on the train from Brussels to Geraardsbergen. In the first instance, he had received the favor of the suspension.
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On October 16, 2015, the man took a train from Brussels to his hometown Ostend, but on the train he got into trouble with a family of African origin. The incident concerned whether or not a toilet door would close automatically. The Superintendent in a drunken state ordered the train conductor to evict the family and hurled a series of insults at their heads. The conductor notified the police, who arrested the chief inspector at Geraardsbergen station. The man admitted his mistake, but knows his behavior is due to the heavy workload. At the time, he was working in the Matonge area in Brussels, where many families of African origin live, and he says he was a respected agent there.
He was initially suspended from his sentence, but the public prosecutor’s office appealed to demand community service. The court in Ghent also considered community service, however, an insufficiently strong signal and effectively sentenced him to six months. “In a particularly affected way, he turned out his job as a policeman and thus harmed this job and the entire police force at the same time,” said the judgment. The display became even more nauseating when the defendant dropped his service firearm at the intervention of the police. The intoxicated or intoxicated state in which the defendant found himself in no way detracts from the seriousness of the racist situation he caused. ‘
In addition to the six months in prison, he also has to pay a fine of 600 euros.
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