The man armed with a knife who made death threats to the Saint-Anne / Saint-Rémi hospital in Anderlecht has been arrested. This was said by Sarah Frederickx, spokesperson for the Brussels-Midi police zone, to Belga on Friday around 9:15 p.m. Named Hamza and aged 24, the suspect was arrested shortly before 9:00 p.m. in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, according to the police. He was interviewed by the investigators and will then be referred to the Brussels public prosecutor’s office.
The prosecution had launched a psychiatric observation procedure while the investigation continued. This Saturday evening, the prosecution tells us that the individual will not ultimately be placed under observation. “The conditions for an imposed psychiatric observation were not met“, specifies the prosecution. The person will be made available to the prosecution this Sunday.
An escort worthy of a diplomatic convoy in a war zone before intervening in certain cities
This Saturday, the permanent delegate of the SLFP Eric Labourdette reacts by press release. First, he asserts that “the threats are only increasing on the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region in particular, but also elsewhere in Belgium“. The trade unionist lists several acts of violence against the police or the emergency services that have occurred in recent days. “Throwing projectiles, ambushes, deliberately set fires… Firefighters are also increasingly the target of organized attacks in the Brussels-Capital Region“, he indicates. “It is no secret to anyone and the findings are flagrant, the emergency services more and more often attacked. These attacks can be mistaken for attacks on anything that represents the authorities.“.
In his message, Eric Labourdette denounces a “bobotization of society” and the inaction of the authorities. It points to the cases where rescuers must be escorted by the police. “Why don’t we admit in a press release that the firefighters must go to a meeting place determined by the police in order to wait for an escort worthy of a diplomatic convoy in a war zone before intervening? in some cities? Just ask the postal agents of the VUB (Jette) or Paul Brien (Schaerbeek) how often this situation occurs!“, he explains.
The SLFP recalls that Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. “Today, the emergency and security services no longer have the safety of their person insured. On November 28, there will be a demonstration against violence against the police. All emergency services should participate“, concludes the permanent delegate of the SLFP.
Recall of facts
An aggressive and insulting man, armed with a knife, presented himself at the Saint-Anne / Saint-Rémi hospital in Anderlecht, late Friday morning, confirmed Sarah Frederickx. The man allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” and then said he was going to die but would come back to “kill everyone”, according to witnesses. These words have not been confirmed by the police at this time.
The individual then left the hospital. All the other hospitals in the Brussels Region have been warned of a potential assault by this individual and the latter has been the subject of an active search by several police services. It would be a 24-year-old man from the province of Luxembourg, according to various media.