The police officer who ran over 19-year-old Adil in 2020 has been accused by a former colleague of making racist remarks, having bragged that “he took one of them off the streets” after the death of the young man from Anderlecht.
The accusations were revealed by Le Soir and RTBF on Wednesday, who reported accusations made by a female police officer during the ongoing investigation into Adil’s death.
The 19-year-old was rammed head-on by a police car in the municipality of Anderlecht in April 2020 after fleeing a police search for not respecting Covid-19 restrictions. An investigation is currently ongoing into the three officers on duty during Adil’s death
The investigators were told on 5 May about the problematic behaviour of the police officer that rammed and killed Adil, having received a damning testimony from one of his female colleagues. She accused the policeman of making xenophobic and Islamophobic remarks to his colleagues and using racist slurs.
The policeman would have also internally stated that “he took one of them off the streets” while discussing Adil’s death, about the 19-year-old’s ethnicity. he had flagged this behaviour internally in a letter but was ignored by the officer’s superior. However, The female colleague stated that the officer had not claimed to have voluntarily run him over.
According to her, three-quarters of those who worked under him agreed with her claims and she had even flagged this behaviour internally in a letter. However, she was ignored by the officer’s superior.
The Brussels-South police zone’s chief of staff Jurgen De Landsheer told Le Soir that he had not seen the female officer’s letter but did reveal that the policeman had been transferred in February of this year “by mutual agreement.”
De Landsheer also stated that, according to the accused officer’s director, “his remarks were inappropriate and offensive, but not racist.”
'Deeply shocked'
In response to these latest allegations, the officer’s lawyer Sven Mary criticised the breach of secrecy surrounding the ongoing investigation. Adil’s family, meanwhile, are said to have been “deeply shocked by what they have read” according to their lawyer Alexis Deswaef.
It is yet unclear whether this new information will impact court proceedings as the officers' hearing has been postponed until September. A trial was supposed to be held on Tuesday to determine whether they should be prosecuted for Adil's death but has now been delayed.
In parallel, a group of young protestors that clashed with police in the days following the fatality are currently on trial over their alleged rioting.
