Public prosecutor demands acquittal in the trial surrounding the death of Ibrahima Barrie (23), who died in a police cell: “Unfortunate coincidence” (Schaerbeek)

Dozens of sympathizers gathered at the Brussels courthouse before the start of the hearing to protest against the death of Ibrahima Barrie.

“We want answers so we can finally grieve,” said his sister Aïcha Barrie. “We want justice for my brother. There is still a lot of uncertainty. We still don’t know what exactly happened that night. All we know is that he suffered a cardiac arrest in the police station. But my brother never had a heart problem. He was fit and played football.”

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Ibrahima Barrie was arrested on January 9, 2021 near Brussels North Station, where the police were carrying out an action targeting a group of about thirty transmigrants. Barrie filmed the whole thing, but ran away when the police wanted to interpellate him. He was arrested after a short chase and taken to the local police station, where he was searched. (Read more below the photo)

However, the man in his twenties became unwell and died after resuscitation in hospital. Camera images show how the victim knelt several times during the search, but was each time put upright by the police officers involved. After the check, Barrie was placed on a chair, where he slipped and then remained in an unnatural position for several minutes. With his hands cuffed behind his back and his head leaned against a wall, he lay stretched out on the floor of the police station.

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According to the lawyer for the Barrie family, the young man in his twenties lay on the ground for almost seven minutes before intervention was made. He was eventually resuscitated and taken to hospital, where he died.

25 minutes

“This is involuntary manslaughter due to lack of precaution and caution,” said master Alexis Deswaef. “The images clearly show that Ibrahima Barrie was in a bad condition when he was searched. If they had helped him immediately, they could have saved 25 minutes. Had he received immediate care, he would have gone into cardiac arrest in the hospital and survived.”

“They had no legal basis for accessing his mobile phone, but deleted images. That’s evidence!”

Alexis Deswaef

Barrie family attorney

The criminal lawyer pointed explicitly in the direction of the four police officers, who, according to him, were more interested in the video images that Barrie had taken with his mobile phone than in his state of health.

“Why were they in his cell phone? That’s not their job. They had no legal basis for this. But they deleted footage, that’s evidence! They did not want images of their police action at North Station to be distributed, because it had not gone completely correctly either. The CCTV footage clearly shows that they barely paid attention to Ibrahima Barrie once they found his mobile phone.”

Debate about evidence

To the surprise of many, the Brussels public prosecutor’s office, which had requested the referral of two defendants in the council chamber, demanded the acquittal of the four police officers on the dock.

“My office has indeed requested a referral to the council chamber, because this case deserves a debate about the evidence,” the magistrate said. “But this is an unfortunate coincidence. Ibrahima Barrie had started walking, was wearing a face mask and was under stress from the arrest. In addition, there were drugs in his system and he suffered heart failure.”

Continuation next week

According to the public prosecutor, there is therefore doubt. “Did the police officers make a mistake when Barrie collapsed? Maybe. Could they have done anything to help him? Don’t know.”

The trial continues next week with defense arguments.