Eight police officers have been charged in connection with the death of Sourour Abouda, a woman who died in police custody at Rue Royale in Brussels in 2023.
Lawyers for the family revealed the information after the final hearing of a civil suit, brought by her family, in the council chamber on Tuesday.
The charges do not automatically mean the officers will face trial in criminal court. A hearing scheduled for 23 June will decide whether additional investigative measures are required.
On Monday, lawyers for the family disclosed that five relatives of Abouda had filed civil suits against both the eight officers and the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone.
People gather for the 'Justice pour Sourour' commemoration of Sourour Abouda, Friday 13 June 2025 in Brussels, the woman who died two years ago in detention in a police station of the federal police. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
The eight officers named in the investigation include two who transported Abouda to the police station, according to lawyer Maxime Nardone. The other six were responsible for monitoring the cell where her death occurred.
Following the conclusion of the investigation, the public prosecutor’s office recommended prosecuting the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone for involuntary manslaughter due to negligence or failure to take precautionary measures.
What happened?
On 12 January 2023, a Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police patrol detained Abouda shortly before 6:00 am on Rue Américaine in Ixelles for disturbing public order for reported drunkenness. She was then transferred to a detention cell of a federal police station on Rue Royale in Brussels, where she was mysteriously found dead two hours later.
While the police had initially claimed the death to have been a suicide, they changed the story multiple times, according to the family. Abouda's family accuses the police of having "left her to die" after falling inside the police cell, according to an interview with her sister with Bruzz.
"Two of them transported the victim to the police station, and six others watched over the cell where she passed away," Attorney Nardone said on Monday, ahead of Tuesday's hearing.
As part of the civil suit, the family claimed that eight officers were involved in the incident, from the time of her arrest at around 06.00 am to her death, and are seeking to have them referred to the criminal court.
