Hakim Mutyaba (53) was thrown into the water on Sunday 17 July at the Ferdinand Lousbergskaai in Ghent. The man did not resurface and died. The incident involved two men from Goes, whom Hakim had met on the way back from the Gentse Feesten.
Camera images
They then fled, but were quickly arrested in the Netherlands: a 25-year-old reported himself to the police, a 23-year-old was arrested a day later. The two come from Goes. The 25-year-old man made a full statement to police.
“My client has immediately opened up about this tragic case,” says his lawyer Jonathan Bogaerts. “He was present at the facts, but did not push the victim into the water. This is also apparent from the camera images.”
Appeal
The man was transferred to Belgium last week and arrested there on suspicion of ‘guilty omission’. On Tuesday he had to appear before the Ghent council chamber, which decided to keep him in jail for a month longer.
The lawyer had asked for the man to be released on conditions. “We therefore regret this decision of the council chamber and will therefore appeal against this decision,” lawyer Jonathan Bogaerts said.
Funeral Hakim
The other suspect, the 23-year-old, is still resisting extradition to Belgium. “He is fully cooperating,” says his lawyer Thomas Gillis. “He acknowledges that he played a role in the fatal incident, but he does not want to be handed over to Belgium.”
Hakim’s family, meanwhile, traveled to his homeland Uganda to have the funeral there. The 53-year-old was buried there in his home country last week in the presence of his family, children and friends.