Mohammed Hassar, 70, appears before the Liège Assize Court for the murder of his son Bilal, 19, and the attempted murder of his other son, Faïssal, 29. The events took place at the family home in Liège, on August 28, 2019 for the murder of Bilal, and a few months earlier, on February 4, 2019, for the attack on Faïssal.
Born in Tangier (Morocco) in 1953, Mohammed Hassar moved to Liège in 1976. Father of seven children, he describes a family life marked by conflicts between his sons Faïssal and Bilal. According to him, Faissal sought to dominate Bilal, and both lacked respect for their parents. Frequent arguments poisoned the daily life of this Moroccan family.
Accused of stabbing his two sons, Mohammed Hassar admits to the stabbings but denies any homicidal intent. Concerning Faïssal, he claims to have wanted to separate them during an argument and to have used the knife to threaten Faïssal and end the altercation. As for Bilal, he says he defended himself while his son attacked him and threatened his mother. “He’s my son, I didn’t intend to kill him,” he maintained.
Read: A MRE in court for the homicide of her daughters
Last Friday, the court heard testimony from the accused’s daughter. A teacher, she described a normal childhood and claims to have never been abused by her parents. On the other hand, she accuses her brother Faïssal of violence and of wanting to take the father’s place. According to her, Faïssal did not accept his father’s unemployment situation and considered the family’s poverty to be a shame.
Mohammed Hassar’s daughter also questioned her father’s guilt. She raised the possibility of Bilal’s suicide, a version that her father would have confided to her in prison. According to this version, Bilal, after an argument, wanted to kill his father before turning the knife against him.
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