NOS News•
In Belgium, the controversial case of the fatal hazing of student Sanda Dia resumed this week. Eighteen members of the now defunct student club Reuzegom from Leuven are in court.
They are suspected of involvement in the death of 20-year-old Dia in 2018. The emotions immediately came to the surface again during the first days of court this week.
Dia passed away on December 7, 2018. His hazing started three days before, during which he had to sit for hours in a self-dug pit. Like two other “shafts”—uninitiated students—he was poured buckets of icy water and made to drink a mixture of extremely salty fish oil, live goldfish, and blender-ground mice.
He became unwell, ended up in hospital with dehydration symptoms and did not survive. The events of the fatal weekend were laid out in court this week, sparking intense emotion among the family. Dia’s mother had to briefly leave the room on the second day of the hearing to recover.
‘Society benefits from recognition’
One last photo showing Sanda Dia still alive made a big impression. His parents gave explicit permission to the press to show that image to the outside world yesterday, to make the seriousness of the matter clear. It can be seen how Dia is apparently lying unconscious in the grass on the night of the ‘fish sauce test’.
“It is a picture of a boy who has been put aside like a dirty object,” lawyer Sven Mary, who represents Dia’s family, said in his emotional plea. At the time, the photo was circulating in Reuzegom’s closed app group.
“Sanda’s father has often asked me how cold Sanda must have been at that moment. If he was still able to think at that moment,” said Mary. The suspects stand trial anonymously, but if it is up to the lawyer, that should be different.
“Enjoy the coming months in which you become geblurd, because the family does not benefit from people going to prison. But society does benefit from being able to recognize these young economists, commercial engineers and doctors.”
Reporter Thomas Spekschoor went to the place where the hazing took place in 2020:
How his hazing became fatal for the Belgian student Sanda Dia
This week, the eighteen suspects, who use pseudonyms, can tell their story before the court in Antwerp. A few apologized for the events. The man dubbed “Sondage” expressed his regret to the family. “I’m very ashamed and that’s why I have a hard time looking my family and friends in the eye,” he said.
Another suspect, known as ‘Shitfly’, also showed remorse. “I’m trying to bear my responsibility, but I know that’s little comfort to you. Sorry.”
At the hearing, a picture was drawn of Reuzegom, where the student club has become increasingly extreme and violent over the years. Attorney Mary said the members “feel superior” and have “a racist side”.
Mary: “The nickname of the only Reuzegommer of color is Rafiki, there are reports that mention ‘friend Adolf’, use the n-word or where Reuzegommers speak of Sanda’s ‘ancestors’.” Dia’s father is from Mauritania.
Long run-up and legal wrangling
The Sanda Dia case is not only controversial and imaginative, but also complicated and dragging. Only after a lengthy judicial investigation, concerns about partiality in a judge and the transfer of the case from the court of Antwerp to the one in Hasselt, did the substantive treatment begin in April last year. Prison sentences of up to five years were demanded, but barely a week later the case was stopped again.
The case also led to a broader discussion in Belgium about hazing rituals in general – which already start with the boy scouts – and the elitist nature of student associations. For example, the suspects each hired top lawyers, which led to commotion.
There are still court days this week. A verdict is expected to be announced next Monday.
