(Brussels) A 36 year-old man, arrested in Brussels for attempting to throw a Molotov cocktail outside the Belgian Federal Parliament, explained that he had acted in “Reprisals for the mismanagement of the health crisis,” the Brussels prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.
Posted on 28 July 2020 at 7am 14
France Media Agency
The man was arrested by a police patrol, attracted by his “suspicious behavior”, when he was trying to launch the device of his manufacture on the building, Monday around 13 h 30 (7:00 a.m. 30, Eastern Time). The damage on the roads is minimal, and there were no injuries, said Denis Goeman, spokesman for the prosecution, at a press conference.
Despite certain documents found in his car parked near the Parliament and at his home, which “suggest” that the suspect “could have extreme convictions”, the old man of 36 years old and originally from Limburg (east of the country) does not seem to have acted in the name of a “determined political conviction”.
“The content of the documents could suggest that the person has extremist ideas. In any case, there is no claim of a party or an ideology of the far right or the far left, “Goeman said.
“He explains in his hearing that the reason for his act is that the political world has mismanaged the health crisis” linked to the new coronavirus pandemic, added the spokesperson.
The suspect was known to the judicial services, but did not have a criminal record “strictly speaking”, said Denis Goeman.
An examining magistrate has been seized and will have to rule on an indictment.
“At this point the terrorist motive is not accepted,” Goeman said in response to a question from reporters.
