An acquittal and one-year prison sentences with suspended probation were handed down by the 6th chamber of the Charleroi criminal court. The trio was prosecuted for making threats and found themselves at the origin of several fires.
The first defendant, suspected of having enlisted the two other individuals to commit the acts, contested all of the charges. The public prosecutor had requested sentences of three, ten and 12 years in prison against the trio.
The three defendants were suspected of having ordered or participated in several fires of vehicles and a home, as well as of having threatened several people. The first suspect had, according to the deputy prosecutor, enlisted the two other men to damage vehicles belonging in particular to his ex-partner and the latter's new companion.
The supposed sponsor contested all the facts against him, as well as having played this role. “I don’t know why the other two defendants say that the orders came from me. Perhaps it is revenge for debts linked to narcotics”he explained on November 4.
The two other defendants, one of whom is detained, had admitted one or the other facts, designating the main suspect as their sponsor. One of the defendants admitted to setting fire to a vehicle in exchange for a pellet of cocaine. Heavy sentences of three, ten and twelve years in prison were requested against the three men. The heaviest prison sentence was requested against the alleged sponsor.
The various defense lawyers had pleaded for an acquittal or favorable measures for their clients.
