"Thousands of demonstrators marched through Brussels on Sunday to mark the International Day Against Police Brutality and commemorate people who died during police interventions in the city. Footage shows protesters marching through the streets carrying banners and placards demanding justice for alleged victims, while chanting slogans. Organisers highlighted several recent deaths linked to police operations, including 11-year-old Fabian, Mehdi Bouda, Ilyes Abeddou, Mohamed Amine, and Sourour Abouda. "We are here for the international march against police violence because we recognise that the colonial violence on Palestine is the same as the violence that is killing black and brown people in the streets in Brussels," one protester said. "We are also here to honour our martyr Mahmud Farag Allah, who died in a closed detention centre last year," he added. Relatives of alleged victims also joined the march, calling attention to what they described as systemic police violence in Belgium. "It's important to know that here in Belgium, there is a great deal of police violence. People are dying at the hands of the police. There is racial profiling, and it is particularly children of colour in working-class neighbourhoods who are affected," stated a mother of a victim. "We demand that the police officers involved in this violence and these killings be immediately removed from duty. We demand public trials so that people can attend," added another protester. The protest comes amid heightened tensions following a court hearing in February 2026 related to the 2023 death of Sourour Abouda. The 46-year-old woman died while in police custody on January 12, 2023, at a police station on Rue Royale in Brussels after being arrested for public drunkenness by officers from the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone. Police initially said her death was a suicide, but friends, relatives and activists have challenged that account. Prosecutors have since filed a manslaughter claim in the case, though campaigners argue it reflects a broader pattern of impunity for officers involved in deaths of detainees, particularly those of North African descent. Organisers also criticised the government for failing to publish official and transparent figures on deaths linked to law enforcement interventions, saying independent grassroots counts recorded at least 10 such deaths in the previous year alone."