In a reaction to the events that led to up to the fatal stabbing of a police officer in the Brussels municipality of Schaarbeek on Thursday evening, the hospital where the perpetrator was brought just hours before has said that its staff were not informed about his dangerous profile. 32-year-old Yassine Mahi had served time in prison for theft and violent robbery and had been on the deradicalisation programmes at Hasselt (Limburg) and Ittre (Walloon Brabant) prisons. After his release from prison three years ago his deradicalisation had been followed up by the deradicalisation services of the City of Brussels and the Francophone Language Community. Yassine Mahi is also on the terror threat analysis group OCAD’s list of radicialised individuals that could pose a potential threat.
Hospital “not informed” about police officer’s killer’s dangerous profile
The Saint-Luc University Hospital in Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe says that it was told none of this when he brought there for voluntary admission to a psychiatric ward. Yassine Mahi had been taken there after he had gone into a police station in Evere in a confused state saying that he had mental health issues and hated the police. However, the fact that he had been admitted of his own volition meant that he was also free to leave the hospital as and when he wished. Only if a voluntary patient is under 24/7 police surveillance is this not the case the hospital said.
This all raises the question of why on Thursday when police in Evere contacted the Public Prosecutor did they opt for a voluntary psychiatric observation at a hospital and not for formal arrest or a forced admission to a psychiatric ward (sectioning), given Yassine Mahi’s record and that he is known to be radicalised. Things should become clearer during the investigation. However, many will pose the question of whether one police officer might not have been killed and another injured if things had been done differently. As far as the public prosecutor's office itself is concerned it believes that no errors were made.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Tim De Wolf told VRT News that "The perpetrator harboured aggressive thoughts towards the police. But he had also expressed the wish to receive psychiatric counseling. The local police contacted the public prosecutor's office in Brussels to see if a procedure of forced psychiatric admission could be applied. However, one of the conditions for the application of that procedure is that the person refuses all help. This was not the case here. He explicitly asked for psychiatric help, so the magistrate on duty asked the police to escort him to the psychiatric ward of the hospital."
However, it is the case that a person can be sectioned "If they behave so aggressively that there is serious danger to others around them" or "if they are very seriously endangering their own health and safety." or "when they are mentally ill".
Several hours after Yassine Mahi had been taken to Saint-Luc the police contacted the hospital. It then became clear that he had already left the hospital. How this happened and when will be looked into during the investigation.
“Not aware of dangerous profile"
In a statement released on Friday evening Saint-Luc University Hospital wrote. “Following the stories circulating about the tragic attack on two Brussels police officers, we would like to provide clarification. On Thursday, November 10 at around 11 am, a man, accompanied by three police officers, came to A&E requesting voluntary psychiatric care. 28 minutes later he was assessed for further treatment. The police officers then left the A&E ward without informing staff about the patient's dangerous profile.”
The hospital says that Yassine Mahi was then placed in a waiting room until he could be admitted to the psychiatric ward. “Again procedures were followed. However, when after twenty minutes the A&E nurse went to collect him he had already left and a psychiatric assessment was therefore not possible.”
The hospital also points out that every patient who reports to the emergency department is free to leave. “Unless he or she is under constant police surveillance, which was not the case here. The relevant authorities had not given us any instructions.”