Victor-Manuel Jacinto Goncalves, 48, was charged with "involuntary homicide", and protested that he would not have shot at the vehicle if he had known migrants were inside.

He could have faced up to five years in prison for such a charge, but prosecutors told the court in Mons on the second day of his trial that they would seek only one year, suspended.

The death of Mawda, on the night of May 17 to 18, 2018 has become a symbol for migrant rights activists arguing against what they see as Belgium's "dehumanisation" of undocumented migrants.