Algerian Pair Sentenced in Connection to Murder of Homosexual Belgian Man

Two Algerian men have been convicted and sentenced in connection to the 2009 murder and robbery of a gay Belgian man after they had had sex with him.

Algerian nationals Ahmed Freha, 38, and Fethi Rezzioui, 39, were sentenced for their roles in connection with the murder of 45-year-old Belgian man Luc Verheyen, who was stabbed five times in his home in Grâce-Hollogne in 2009.

The two Algerians were not identified in connection to the incident until years after the murder and were positively identified by DNA left at the scene.

According to a report from the Belgian broadcaster RTC, the two men had accompanied Verheyen to his home and engaged in sexual activity before Fethi Rezzioui stabbed him to death.

Of the pair, only Ahmed Freha attended the trial, while his accomplice Fethi Rezzioui fled overseas, to Africa.

Freha was only convicted of robbery with violence after the court determined he did not actively or passively participate in the murder and was sentenced to five years in prison, suspended. Rezzioui was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for murder and robbery.

The convictions come just months after another homosexual man was murdered in Belgium after being lured to a secluded area by three young men using a dating app.

David P. was lured to a park in Beveren where the three young men stabbed and beat him to death. The next day, a biker found his body. The magazine Out states while the murder is the first in around nine years, attacks on homosexuals in Belgians have risen recently.

Attacks and planned attacks linked to gay dating apps have been seen in many countries such as France where two Islamic State supporters planned to use the gay dating app Grindr to lure homosexual men to their deaths in 2018.

Police arrested the two men, a 23-year-old Pakistani and a 21-year-old Chechen, before they could carry out their alleged plans.