The Brussels Criminal Court has a acquitted a man that stood accused of the rape of 2 women. The alleged offences took place in 2021 while he was working as a barman in an area of the Brussels municipality of Elsene that is popular with students on a night out. Earlier in the trial the prosecutor’s office had said that as the accused had already been the victim of a “virtual lynching”, it would not be demanding a sentence of any kind be passed.
#BalanceTonBar, a movement set up in the wake of a number of sexual assaults on young women in bars, had published the man’s name and address online and had called for revenge to be taken on the man.
The court ruled that it wasn’t certain that the man had raped the two women. The judge ruled that it was possible that the women had agreed to have sex with the man, but then had a black-out and couldn’t remember having given their consent.
When the alleged offences came to light, several women testified on social media that they had been the victims of sexual assault in the bars around Elsene Cemetery. Several further allegations were made against the barman, all of which were subsequently dismissed.
A bouncer at a café in the same neighbourhood was later sentenced to 50 months in prison in another case. The man had pushed a young woman into the toilets of the café, where he forced her to perform oral sex.
A called to end trial by social media
The prosecution's demand that the barman not be punished by the court has been the source of much discussion. Many have viewed this as a way of sending a clear signal to call a halt to the way suspects in this kind of case are treated on social media.
The criminal lawyer Walter Damen (who was not a party in the case) told the VRT’s discussion programme De Zevende Dag that “This is a digital for of Middle Ages complete with pillory and unbridled revenge.