The scene took place on December 25, 2020 in the Verviers region. A cyclist had jostled a little girl with a knee as she was riding with her family. The scene filmed by the father of the family had quickly made the rounds of social networks in order to find the cyclist, arousing the indignation of many Internet users. Said cyclist had surrendered himself to the authorities the same evening. Last February, he went before the Verviers criminal court which ruled that the blow had been committed by “lack of foresight and precaution”. In fact, the cyclist had explained that he had tried to regain his balance and that he had not injured the little girl.
In November 2021, we learned that the cyclist decided this time to sue the father of the little girl in civil proceedings, considering himself strongly injured by his behavior and the video he circulated on the net. The cyclist is therefore claiming damages from the father of the one he jostled. It must be said that even today this video is still viral. The cyclist’s lawyer thus claimed that these images were akin to harassment, he even compared them to revenge porn. According to him, his client would be the victim of ridicule and would feel threatened, so much so that he never took his bike out of his garage again.
Concretely, the lawyer is claiming damages equivalent to the value of the bike (i.e. 4,500 euros), he nevertheless affirmed in front of the hearing that he would be satisfied with a symbolic euro. A way to prove that we can not publish everything and anything on social networks. For his part, the father of the little girl asserted the right to freedom of expression. He claimed that the scene took place in a public place and that anyone present at the scene could have witnessed it. He recalled that the video also proved that the cyclist had behaved inappropriately.
The lawyers of the two parties pleaded this Tuesday in Verviers, if the father of the little girl was present, it was not the case of the cyclist. Judgment will be delivered on September 13.