Belgian police have estimated that 80,000 people joined a silent march through the country's capital on Sunday to commemorate the 17-year-old man who was murdered for his iPod last week.
Joe Van Holsbeeck died from stab wounds after refusing to give up his music player to two men. An impromptu shrine has grown up around the spot where he was attacked in Brussels' central station.
Organisers of the march, which was led by Joe's family, said that they wanted to show that Belgians will not tolerate random acts of violence. The murder occured in broad daylight in the busy main concourse of the station, but no apparent attempt was made to apprehend the killers who have yet to be found. Belgian police have released video footage of them in the station as part of an international appeal to identify them.
The prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, promised new measures to tackle hold-ups after Joe's father said on television that more needs to be done to control inner city violence.