Djiboutian Exile Gets 15 Years For Gouging Rival’s Eyes In Belgium

A Belgian court has sentenced an exiled Djiboutian opposition activist, Idriss Awaleh, to 15 years in prison for a brutal attack that resulted in the torture of his political rival, Liban Moustapha Hassan, who had his eyes gouged out.

The judgement, according to AFP on Tuesday, said that Awaleh, aged 40, was convicted of “torture involving the loss of an organ” following a violent assault on Hassan, also 40, in November 2016. The Brussels appeals court delivered this ruling on December 15, leading to Awaleh’s immediate imprisonment.

The court learned that both men were involved in Djibouti opposition politics but had a falling out amid a series of intense internal disagreements.

In the early hours of November 6, 2016, a taxi driver near Porte de Namur in Brussels’ primary commercial area alerted the authorities after discovering Moustapha Hassan lying injured by the roadside, bleeding profusely from his eye sockets. He was rushed to a hospital, though he survived, he lost his eyesight due to the grievous injuries sustained.

Moustapha Hassan recounted to the police that he was a victim of a politically motivated attack.

Approximately 12 hours later, Awaleh, a Djibouti-Dutch national born in Somalia, arrived at a different hospital in Brussels, seeking treatment for loose teeth and facial cuts. He was subsequently apprehended.