Belgium: More than 80,000 people marched in silence through Brussels yesterday in memory of a teenager stabbed to death by two suspects of North African origin in Belgium's biggest protest in 10 years, police said.
Joe van Holsbeeck (17) was stabbed five times in the chest during the evening rush hour on April 12th when he refused to hand over his MP3 player to the men in the central railway station.
On the request of his parents, marchers did not carry any political banners but the youth's death triggered an uproar over crime and racial tension in Belgium.
The federal prosecutor's office said that on the basis of video footage from security cameras, two men of North African origin were suspected of having carried out the crime.
Leaders of the Muslim community in Brussels said they were disturbed by the stabbing and imams called at Friday prayers for people to turn in the suspects if they knew who they were.
Representatives of North African communities in the capital took part in the silent protest, officials said.
Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt said the teenager's death should not go unpunished to send a signal to society that such crimes would not be tolerated.
Marchers queued up to lay a white rose or bunches of flowers as the march passed the Gare Centrale railway station.
Police said it was Belgium's biggest demonstration since about 300,000 people took part in the so-called White March in 1996 to commemorate the victims of paedophile Marc Dutroux and to protest against the slow-moving Belgian judicial system.
- (Reuters)