“The Puica brothers continue to maintain that they had no bad intentions, but that will be difficult.” With those words, the Attorney General launched an impressive indictment during the trial surrounding the car deal that went wrong in Opwijk. He wanted to make it clear to the jury that Stefan and Bujor Puica deliberately ran over the victim three times.
“It was a punitive expedition,” the attorney general said. “They armed themselves in advance with a knife, a hammer and Molotov cocktails. They also organized themselves in groups, because they knew that they could expect resistance on the farm. They wanted to go there to cause destruction, chase everyone away and set the place on fire.”
READ ALSO. Two Romanian farmers’ sons appear before the Assize Court for murder after being hit by a car: “I didn’t feel anything”
Humiliation
The Romanian brothers made one big mistake, the prosecutor ruled. “They mishandled their opponent. They didn’t know that so many people lived on the farm. As a result, they were driven backwards and found themselves against superior numbers. The punitive expedition gradually became a humiliation.”
“Everyone fled with their tail between their legs, but not the Puica brothers. That was also difficult, because they had made all those threats before. Bujor got into the Audi Q7 and was able to drive away perfectly, but then stopped on the track and abruptly reversed. He deliberately hit Valentin. He did this a second time, when the victim was already on the ground. Then Stefan took over the wheel and rode over Valentin a third time. That is the will to kill someone, there is no other way to describe it.”
READ ALSO. Emotional testimony from victim’s family makes Romanian brothers bow: “I am sorry, we did not want to kill anyone”
The trial continues on Monday. Then the defense of the brothers and their six Romanian comrades can make their case.
){kind=link}