Among the “most wanted” criminals, also appears a Belgian woman. Hilde Van Acker from Sint-Niklaas, in East Flanders, is wanted for murdering a British businessman. She was sentenced to life prison after killing Marcus John Mitchell on 23 March 1996, with her boyfriend. The man was killed with two bullets on the neck. Since then, both killers are on the run.

« The intention is to emphasize that there is also diversity and gender balance in crime,” said Tine Hollevoet from Europol to VRT NWS. « Much research has been done in the past on how gender plays a role in crime. But the majority of those studies focused on the sex of the victim, and less often on that of the perpetrator,” she continued. “The goal is to attract as many visitors to the website as possible. Experience has taught us that the more people see fugitives, the better the chances are to find and arrest them,” Hollevoet concluded.

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5,000 cyclists now own the new regional anti-bicycle theft device.

Owning the device – which is essentially just a sticker with a unique associated QR code – allows you to register on a platform managed by the Brussels Region; the QR code allows you to find out quickly if a particular bike has been reported stolen. Various other information may also be indicated by the code, such as the colour of the bike or certain distinctive elements. The system is currently being used by police.

A “bait” bike project has also been considered by prosecutors, i.e. a system that would entrap bike thieves. However, such a project has not yet secured the necessary agreement of the Brussels Public Prosecutor’s Office.

While there are more and more cyclists on the streets of the capital, there are also increasingly more bicycle thefts: 3,719 bicycles were reported stolen in Brussels in 2018.

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As of now, Cowboy announces that all users of its electric bicycle benefit free of charge from the “Easy Rider Basic” plan, which includes the “Find My Bike” feature, in order to geolocate its bicycle from the Cowboy application. Two other paid insurance plans are also provided by the company: the Easy Rider Standard plan protects against theft of their bike, and allows them to report theft and obtain priority access to customer support via the Cowboy app; and the Easy Rider Plus plan protects against vandalism or damage to the bike. These services are charged from 8 euros per month (for the Easy Rider Standard plan) to 10 euros per month (for the Easy Rider Plus plan).

Cowboy points out that this insurance, offered in collaboration with Qover, covers bicycles in locked spaces and on public roads, as long as the bicycle is attached to a fixed point with an anti-theft device. Moreover, the insurance contracts are valid in the event of a claim in the countries of the European Union, the Principalities of Andorra and Monaco, Vatican City, Iceland, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Norway, San Marino and Switzerland.

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Gunshots were fired last Saturday evening near Place Flagey.

The shots were fired around 10pm between Rue Marie Henriette and Rue Gray, according to the police, i.e., at a time when many people were out on the square. The shots were reportedly fired with either a pistol or a blank gun.

No one was hurt and no one was arrested. A report has been drawn up by the police.

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In recent years, bicycle theft has increased steadily. According to the latest federal police crime statistics report, 3,719 complaints were lodged in the Brussels Region in 2018, compared to 3,547 the previous year. Ten years ago, there were only 1,500 complaints. These figures “only concern declared thefts: the phenomenon is in fact much more serious” according to the cycling associations, which also denounced the “feeling of impunity” enjoyed by those responsible for thefts.

For Gracq and Fietsersbond, progress has been made in recent years in terms of prevention, such as the secure parking that is beginning to develop, the launch of the mybike.brussels platform which allows you to register your bike online, and regular awareness raising. But the fight against bicycle theft “remains very insufficient” in the eyes of the associations and requires “joint action by the police and the prosecutor’s office to apprehend the perpetrators of theft, and prosecute and/or fine them.”

At present, “less than 5% of stolen bicycles are returned to their owners”, according to Gracq and Fietsersbond, which also urged the Brussels authorities to “finally take bicycle theft seriously”. To attract the attention of the latter, the two associations are encouraging the victims of bike theft to ‘hijack’ the hashtag of the promotional campaign #tourensemble of Bruxelles Mobilité by using the hashtag #protectourbikes on social networks.

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The arrest was made as part of a broader investigation of the Hells Angels led by the Portuguese Public Prosecutor’s Office, with the assistance of the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP) and the PJ. The case currently has 89 defendants, of whom 43 are now in custody.

The Belgian detainee was present at the Criminal Investigation Court of Lisbon for the first time on Tuesday, and the court, in concordance with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, applied the measure of pre-trial detention.

According to a judicial source, interrogations of the defendants have taken place in recent days and continue to be carried out. However, none of the defendants have yet answered any of the questions put to them by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

In March of last year, about 20 Hells Angels bikers invaded a restaurant in Prior Velho, a municipality of Loures near Lisbon, to attack the rival Red & Gold group, created by the extreme-right radical Mário Machado. The two rival gangs clashed inside the restaurant, with knives, sticks, iron bars and other objects being used.

In January, the Criminal Investigation Court (TIC) of Lisbon declared that the “special complexity” of the case entailed that the Public Prosecutor’s Office was entitled to six additional months (until July 18) to file their indictments, thereby also extending the period of pre-trial detention of the gang members.

The Hells Angels group has existed in Portugal since 2002, and has always been closely monitored by police and the Portuguese authorities more generally.

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