Stabbing suspect in court Tuesday

5 February 2007

BRUSSELS – The 18-year-old Ostend resident who stabbed two teenagers from Bredene on Saturday morning on the Marie-José Plein in Ostend will appear before the court in Bruges on Tuesday morning for a hearing to extend his pretrial detention.

It is still unclear what led to the stabbing with the banned weapon. The authorities think it may have been an argument over a cigarette, rather than a taxi, as some witnesses have claimed.

In the meantime the prosecutor’s office will be bringing in new witnesses with other accounts of the incident. The investigation will continue.

The prosecutor’s office had blood tests performed on the three persons involved. The outcome of those tests is still not known. Nor has the prosecutor’s office yet received the autopsy results.

The Marie-José Plein in Ostend is one of the busy tram and bus stations near an area with a lot of bars and clubs and is also the site of a taxi rank. Nonetheless few people in the vicinity that night witnessed the tragedy.

[Copyright Expatica 2007]

Subject: Belgian news