MIVB to strike on Friday in protest of lenient sentence

Staff of the Brussels public transport authority MIVB will demonstrate on Friday morning in front of the Justice Palace in Brussels, in protest of yesterday’s outcome of the trial of a man accused of killing an inspector.

The Brussels court found Alexandre Vander Elst guilty of unintentional homicide and sentenced him to 40 months suspended. He was also ordered to pay more than €50,000 in damages. The inspector, 56-year-old Iliaz Tahiraj, died after being struck to the ground in a dispute over a car that collides with an MIVB bus on Havenlaan in Brussels in April 2012.

The prosecution had asked for a sentence of four years, but the court saw no reason to send Vander Elst back to prison, where he had spent just over a month on remand following the incident. He had also admitted the facts from the outset and accepted his responsibility for Tahiraj’s death, the court said.

“This decision has led to a great deal of confusion among MIVB staff,” the three main trade unions said in a joint statement. “People are disappointed; they don’t understand it.”

Unions struggled yesterday to keep staff from walking off the job. “We want any action to take place in an organised manner,” said one representative. MIVB vehicles came to a virtual standstill on the day of the incident in 2012, and the protest continued for six days.

Disruption and delays to public transport is expected on Friday until at least 14.00.

photo: A silent march in 2012, two days after the death of public transport worker Iliaz Tahiraj

photo by Julien Warnand/epa/Corbis