A court in Belgium has sentenced two Dutch nationals to four and two years in jail for pushing a man into a canal in Ghent and leaving him to drown.

The men, 25 and 27 years old and both from Goes, had attended the annual Ghent festival in 2022 and were under the influence of drink and drugs when they came across 53-year-old Hakim Mutyaba.

Some time later they pushed the man into the canal. The judge said the men failed to act when it was clear the victim was unable to save himself. “It was morning, it was light, and both perpetrators could see the victim was unable to swim. They did nothing,” Belgian broadcaster VRT quoted the court as saying.

The 25-year-old received the longer sentence of four years for ultimately pushing the man over the railing. Relatives wanted the two to be tried for manslaughter but the judge ruled the death was accidental.

“It is very difficult to process this,” Ercan Tok, lawyer for Mutyaba’s brother, told the broadcaster. “People jump in to save a cat or a dog but these two did nothing to help a man in a desperate situation. (..) My client was worried about the initial lower sentence demanded by the public prosecutor but we think, in the end, the punishment is a just one,” he said.

The men also have to pay €60,000 in compensation to Mutyaba’s family.