Sentenced in absentia? And where is Chbaba B. now? From Expatica, :
BRUSSELS “” Antwerp Court sentenced in absentia on Friday a 22-year-old Moroccan man to six months jail and a EUR 550 fine for accosting and threatening a Jewish man last year.
It is the first time that such a case of anti-Semitism has led to a trial and a conviction, newspaper ‘De Standaard’ reported.
The suspect, identified only as Chbaba B., confronted a Jewish man in Statiestraat on 7 June 2004 and said: “I am Palestinian and I want to kill all the Jews”. He then brandished a knife in front of the victim.
The Jewish man cycled to a nearby synagogue and alerted police, who later arrested the Moroccan. The suspect was found to be carrying a hacksaw.
Antwerp Court ruled that B. was driven by deep contempt and by feelings of hostility to Jewish people. “The facts bear witness to unacceptable intolerance and are a form of psychological violence,” the ruling said.