“This course is so heavy that I have the impression that I am asked to give up, to drop, that it’s good. But I will not give up, I will not give up. ” These words are those of Zakia, whose brother was murdered three years ago.
In May 2022, when he worked behind his Boucher counter at the Anderlecht slaughterhouses, an argument broke out with one of his colleagues. The latter takes a deadly stab in the abdomen. Surveillance cameras film the whole scene. After five days of trial, the butcher is found guilty of murder and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
We find Zakia at home, three years after the facts. The victim’s sister cannot mourn, still turned upside down by her experience in the assize court. “There was a total lack of humanity. Me, for example, I had the right to speak only once, as a morality witness, since I am his sister. I approach the president and I speak on behalf of my nieces, saying that, later, it will be necessary to explain to them why their dad left one day to work and never returned. (…) She said to me: “Madam, there are shrinks for that. And there, you say to yourself: either I fart a lead and I am put outside, or I remain calm. I stayed calm ”.
If Zakia is struggling to move forward, it is also because it remains drowned in administrative procedures. The Assize Court granted him 7,000 euros in compensation. But the murderer being insolvent, the young woman must turn to the assistance fund for victims of intentional acts of violence. It is this fund that must decide whether or not to grant him compensation.
“What is violent, in the way in which communication takes place is that the victim is once again brought to prove his quality as a victim. But she has already proven it. And after a while, the victim is exhausted, ”explains Maxime Parewyck, the lawyer for Zakia.
I received a lot of testimonies
Would our Belgian justice lack humanity? Are the magistrates sufficiently trained in the psychological dimension? If the approach varies according to the judges, the institution nevertheless seems to initiate progress. Denis Goeman, judge at the Brussels court of first instance, explains on this subject: “You should know that the Judicial Training Institute also provides, for all new magistrates, training, in particular on the management of the hearing. That is to say that magistrates who have to sit have followed these training courses, and must be able to make it happen at best. ”
To make his voice heard, Zakia recounts his fight in a book, like a outlet. “I received a lot of testimonies from people who thanked me, who had read or bought it, and who said to me: ‘In fact, we realize that we are not alone'”.
Soon, the murderer of Ismaël will be able to hope for a parole … and that is there, the greatest fear of Zakia.
