To prison sentences, with the longest being a one-year sentence, were sentenced on Wednesday by the Brussels criminal court to 16 people who had attempted to travel from Brussels airport by presenting fake PCR tests in recent months, according to the newspaper Le Soir.
These are the first prosecutions and convictions for using fake PCRs in the country, where 820 such cases have been recorded so far.[/B] As noted, about 80% of the cases were closed with the imposition and payment of a €750 fine.
Those who did not agree to pay the fine are being prosecuted in groups. Of the first group of 16, 12 people did not attend the trial and were sentenced in absentia. Eleven of the 16 were sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a fine of €1,600 for forgery, while the twelfth person received double the sentence, namely one year's imprisonment, as he was actually a carrier of the coronavirus when he presented the fake PCR.
Another person who insisted that he was not guilty was sentenced to six months' suspended imprisonment and a fine of 800 euros. The remaining three people were sentenced to 60 hours of community service with an alternative one-year jail term.
According to the report, the court referred to "selfish behaviour without barriers" and that the defendants had endangered society by putting their own freedom to travel above the common good.
As international air travel facilitates the mass spread of the coronavirus, the court added, the defendants engaged in conduct that was not only anti-social but potentially dangerous to the lives of others.
Source: CNA
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