The court ultimately sentenced the Syrian to two years in prison, of which only pre-trial detention was effective. The Syrian Ostend resident had to tackle his cocaine addiction, but informed his judicial assistant that he did not feel like probation. The defendant is also said to have made condescending statements about Belgium and the Belgian judiciary. He said he would return to Syria as soon as he had a passport again.
The Public Prosecution Service asked for the prison sentence to be made effective. By the way, the man was not at the hearing, he will now still get two years in effect.
