Policeman on trial in Belgium over shooting death of two-year-old refugee
A man wears a protective face mask as he attends a solidarity event for Mawda Shawri at the courthouse in Brussels, Monday November 23rd 2020
A POLICEMAN went on trial for involuntary manslaughter in Belgium today for shooting a two-year-old refugee girl dead during a car chase.
Two others are on trial for human trafficking and dangerous driving in a case that rights campaigners say underlines the lethal consequences of criminalising irregular migration.
Kurdish toddler Mawda Shawri died after being shot in the head in May 2018 when the driver of the van she was travelling in through Belgium en route to Britain tried to escape from police trying to inspect it. The officer who shot her, who has not been named, states that the shot was fired to scare the van’s driver but the police car swerved, sending it astray.
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