Belgian prosecutors have demanded a five-year prison sentence against the main suspect in a case revolving around a fatal hazing in Leuven in late 2018. Eighteen suspects are on trial for the death of 20-year-old student Sanda Dia. Prison sentences have been demanded against all of them.
The prosecution also wants the main suspect, nicknamed 'Janker', to pay a fine of 8,000 euros and not be allowed to hold public office for the next five years. He is also not allowed to participate in elections during that period, if it is up to the OM.
The OM wants a second suspect to go to prison for four years and two months. The other sixteen were sentenced to between one and a half and two and a half years in prison. The group is suspected of unintentional killing, degrading treatment and intentional administration of harmful substances resulting in death.
According to the prosecution, the suspects, all members of the disbanded student fraternity Reuzegom, have "little sense of guilt," writes Belgian broadcaster VRT. The students could have intervened earlier during the extreme hazing ritual, the prosecutor believes. The case has kept Belgium busy for years.
Forced to drink liquor and fish sauce
The hazing of Dia and two fellow students in December 2018 lasted two days. On the first day, the student was forced to drink large amounts of liquor. Dia became unconscious and in that state the other students urinated on him. The students also shut off the taps in his dorm, so he could not drink water to recover.
On the second day, hazing took place in a log cabin in a forest near Antwerp. There Dia and two fellow students had to sit in a hole in ice water for hours while drinking urine and fish sauce. They also had to swallow a live fish. Dia later died of multiple organ failure from the large amounts of salt he had ingested.
Initially, the Catholic University of Leuven imposed community service on the students involved and they had to write an essay. This led to a great deal of incomprehension in Belgium. The university then instituted a new investigation, on the basis of which the students were suspended after all.
The verdict in the trial is not expected until the end of May at the earliest.
