Belgium jails Djibouti exile who gouged out rival's eyes

According to a ruling seen by AFP Tuesday, Idriss Awaleh, 40, was condemned for "torture involving the loss of an organ" after a November 2016 attack on 40-year-old Liban Moustapha Hassan.

The accused was jailed immediately after the December 15 Brussels appeals court judgement.

According to the ruling, the court heard that both men were involved in Djibouti opposition politics, but had fallen out during a series of bitter factional disputes.

In the early hours of November 6, 2016, a taxi driver working near the Porte de Namur in one of the Belgian capital's main commercial districts called police.

He had found Moustapha Hassan lying by the roadside, alive but bleeding heavily from his eye sockets. He was taken to hospital and survived but lost his sight.

He told police he had been the victim of a political attack.

Around 12 hours later, Somali-born Djibouti-Dutch national Awaleh presented himself at a different Brussels hospital with loose teeth and apparent cuts to his face. He was arrested.