Brussels is experiencing a relentless surge in severe violence, marked by a high number of shootings, prompting the public prosecutor to raise the alarm.
Shootings in Brussels have hit 11 shootings in fourteen days, killing and wounding several people.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been 57 shootings, or one every four days.
Molenbeek alone had four shootings just a few days apart, many, but not all, related to drug crime.
It prompted the public prosecutor of Brussels, Julien Moinil, who’s been living in hiding for months following threats from the city’s criminal drug underworld, to organise a press conference on August 12 and denounce the lack of safety in Brussels, daily Het Laatste Nieuws reported.
Surrounded by bodyguards, and after every journalist attending was patted down, Moinil warned that “Everyone, every resident of Brussels and every citizen, can become a victim.”
The Brussels Public Prosecutor noted that since the beginning of the summer, Brussels has been shaken by twenty shootings.
He said there was an “alarming trend”.
Moinil pointed the finger at Belgian politicians, noting their lack of support to fight organised crime.
“I have asked for additional resources and personnel. But I haven’t seen a penny yet”, he said.
He warned that innocent bystanders were at an increasing risk of being hit by stray bullets.
“Some people think that these are just wars between drug dealers, but that is not true. Anyone, any resident of Brussels, any citizen, could be shot by a stray bullet through their windscreen.”
He recalled that on July 17, a mother with her nine-year-old daughter were almost hit that way, as they were caught in the crossfire between two men.
“That family could just as easily have been dead at that moment”, the Brussels Public Prosecutor said.
One of the men involved in this shooting turned out the next day in another shooting, hitting a parked car and the window of a residential property. He was arrested and is in pre-trial detention.
According to Moinil, a battle for territory is ongoing after some successful police actions that removed some groups from the streets, with new gangs trying to take over places that have been vacated.
Moinil said things might seem disorganised, but noted that in reality, there is a constant influx of new perpetrators.
He advocated for a strong and consistent approach to drug squares.
“We need to completely dismantle them. And that can only be achieved by maintaining a permanent presence. Otherwise, the same dealers will simply return a few hours later. That is unsustainable.”
He further stressed that criminals continue their activities from within prison. “They walk around with smartphones that have 4G connections. Some have even been placed under arrest warrants for offenses committed from within prison.”
According to Moinil, 6,211 adult suspects and 874 minor suspects have been arraigned at the public prosecutor’s office this year—a threefold increase compared to 2024. That includes 1,250 suspected drug dealers, news agency Belga reported.
“One should not think that justice is not doing its job, but 10 or 20 years of laxity is not fixed in one day,” Moinil said.
He noted that the Brussels federal judicial police continue to face a major staff shortage.
Moinil criticised politicians, whom did not offer the much needed financial support, but also didn’t take the necessary steps to keep criminals from the streets.
Out of the 100 people arrested in weapons or drug-related cases, he stated that on average only nine end up in a closed center.
“I understand that some officers become disheartened when they arrest the same person three, four, or even ten times, and that person keeps getting released,” he said. “This is not a criticism of the Immigration Office, but a matter of resources. We could secure things much better if the capacity were there.”
Making things more difficult was the political impasse in Brussels, where more than one year after the regional elections, there still no government.
Ortwin Depoortere, who chairs the Commission of Interior Affairs in the Belgian Parliament, told Brussels Signal the federal government was responsible too.
“As early as 2022, no fewer than 46 shootings were recorded in the Brussels Region. At the time, I already proposed merging the six police zones into a single regional force, imposing heavier and effectively enforced sentences, and putting an end to alternative punishments.
”After three years and with the N-VA in the federal government, we have not moved a single step forward. Prime Minister De Wever’s task force has turned out to be an empty shell that does nothing to address insecurity in Brussels.
“We can only agree with Prosecutor Moinil that it is time for action rather than words.”
A person was shot and killed in the early hours of February 14 in the Brussels commune of Saint-Gilles, the fourth firearms incident in the city in quick succession.
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— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 14, 2024
