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Guido Demoor

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Guido Demoor (died June 24, 2006) was a Belgian NMBS/SNCB Thalys train driver and father of two children. Around 15h on June 24, 2006, the 54-year old was heading to work on a De Lijn city bus in Antwerp, when six youths of Moroccan decent (five Belgian citizens, one Spanish) boarded and started causing a disturbance on the bus. When Demoor stood up and tried to calm things down, he was beaten to the ground and kicked repeatedly. The youths then pulled the emergency brake and fled the bus. Their victim died on the scene, apparently of a subarachnoid hemorrhage, despite the bus driver having alerted the emergency services. All perpetrators, three of them minors, were arrested the days after the incident, but two of them were released.[1]

Investigation

Initially, witnesses were able to provide a description of only one perpetrator.[2] However, two days after the murder, when more testimonies came in, police were able to identify three of them. During a first search on June 26 in one of the suspect's houses, the police was held back by a group of other North African youths, allowing the perpetrator to escape.[3] Later that day, three arrests were made.[4] In the morning of June 27, the three remaining suspects were arrested.[5] Three of the arrested youths were wanted in connection to other crimes, such as theft and arson.[6] Public broadcasters claimed that the arrests were thanks to tips received from the ethnic North African community, but the justice department denied this. VTM quoted a friend of one of the perpetrators saying that "they didn't intend to kill Demoor and only fled because they panicked."[7]

Following unconfirmed reports that the victim died of a heart attack following his injuries, the public prosecutor reclassed the case from manslaughter to assault and battery resulting in unintentional death. It has also been reported that Demoor died on the bus from the injuries sustained in the beating rather than a heart attack.[8]

According to a lawyer representing one of the suspects, Guido Demoor had also behaved violently towards the suspects on the bus:[9]

The victim grabbed one of the suspects around the throat and would not let him go. The youth turned red and had trouble breathing. His friends then punched [Demoor] a few times until he finally let him go. The young man gave Demoor another punch, after which the man dropped into a seat and died. [...] They definitely did not have any intention to kill him.

There has to date been no report of other witnesses confirming this version.

An autopsy on the victim's body showed that Demoor died because of a subarachnoid hemorrhage, possibly caused by high blood pressure or axienty, or—indirect—by the wounds brought on by the youths.[10] The doctors however declared that there is a medical causal relationship between the beating and the cause of death.[11] On July 1, a reconstruction of the incident was held in a De Lijn depot, because of safety concerns and the fact that the setting was of little importance. While some suspects claim that only two of them touched Demoor, witnesses confirm that all six were involved.[12] However, on July 3 two adult suspects were released. The lawyer of one of the others even claimed that he would seek acquittal on grounds of self defence.[13] On July 7 and July 11, two of the minor suspects were released, bringing the total number of people in custody to two out of six.[14][15] The courts are thereby presumably following the unverified version of the facts put forward by the suspects' lawyers.

Reactions

Apart from a condemnation by mayor Patrick Janssens and prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, there were no official political reactions. The latter also called for a revision of the Belgian parole system. Political opponents such as Vlaams Belang see this action as hypocritical, since Verhofstadt has had seven years to take these measures.[16] Unions for both De Lijn and the NMBS/SNCB employees called for more safety in their vehicles.[17] While the victim, a Belgian man, was beaten to death by six people of North African descent, an RTBF commentater said that "there can be no question about racism this time".[18] According to Vlaams Belang, people leaving political massages at the crime scene (such as Isn't this racism?) have been intimidated by immigrant youths.[19] The party also critisises the fact that the crime is commonly referred to in the media as bus incident and not murder.[20] During Demoor's funeral on June 30, a 14-year old girl who witnessed the beating read a letter saying that he was just a nice man trying to bring calm. His colleagues declared that Demoor was a calm and peace-loving man, and said to be outraged that he was being presented as the initial agressor by some.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ Template:Nl icon Jongeren slaan buspassagier dood in Antwerpen en vluchten, Het Laatste Nieuws
  2. ^ Template:Nl icon 17-jarige dader busincident formeel herkend door getuigen, Het Laatste Nieuws
  3. ^ Template:Nl icon Meeste daders van busmoord gepakt, De Telegraaf
  4. ^ Template:Nl icon Drie daders dodelijk busincident opgepakt, Het Laatste Nieuws
  5. ^ Template:Nl icon Alle daders van dodelijke vechtpartij op bus opgepakt, Het Laatste Nieuws
  6. ^ All fatal beating suspects detained, VRT Nieuws
  7. ^ VTM, Het Nieuws (13h), June 27
  8. ^ De Zondag, June 25, 2006
  9. ^ Busincident niet langer omschreven als doodslag, De Standaard, 28 June 2006
  10. ^ Template:Nl icon België maakt zich op voor drie beladen begrafenissen, De Volkskrant, 30 June 2006
  11. ^ VRT, Het Journaal (23h), June 30, 2006
  12. ^ VRT, Het Journaal (23h), July 1, 2006
  13. ^ VRT, Het Journaal (19h), July 3, 2006
  14. ^ Template:Nl icon Jeugdrechter laat minderjarige verdachte busincident voorwaardelijk vrij, Het Laatste Nieuws
  15. ^ Template:Nl icon Tweede betrokkene busincident vrijgelaten, Het Laatste Nieuws
  16. ^ Template:Nl icon Schijnvertoning Wet-Lejeune, Vlaams Belang
  17. ^ Shock at latest violent incident in Antwerp, VRT Nieuws
  18. ^ RTBF, Journal Télévisé (19h30), June 25, 2006
  19. ^ Template:Nl icon Goed nieuws, slecht nieuws, Vlaams Belang
  20. ^ Template:Nl icon ‘Neutrale’ woorden ..., Vlaams Belang
  21. ^ VRT, Het Journaal (23h), June 30, 2006
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