The 33-year-old was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2015 Paris attacks. Most of the suspects are in a glass case for security reasons. The verdict is passed by a jury of twelve. It is expected to be next summer.
During the attacks of 22 March 2016, three suicide bombers from the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) detonated bombs at Brussels Airport Zaventem and in a metro station in the EU district. 32 people were killed and hundreds injured, some seriously. Three months earlier, 130 people had been killed in several places in Paris in a series of Islamist attacks. There are believed to be close connections.
A total of ten men have been charged with the Brussels attacks. However, one is missing from court: he probably died in the civil war in Syria. Eight defendants are charged with 32 counts of terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder of 695 people and involvement in the activities of a terrorist organization. The prosecutor only charges the ninth on the third count.
The trial was opened in the morning by the president of the court, Laurence Massart. She asked the nine defendants for their name, age, occupation, place of birth and place of residence. Abdeslam appeared in a white wool sweater and replied: “33 years. Electromechanical.” During a pause, he laughed and chatted with the other defendants. Another suspected Islamist, Mohammed Abrini, complained about the conditions during transport to court.
Abrini appeared on camera footage as a “man in hat” during the Brussels airport attack. He said he had to undress and listen to “loud satanic music” to be transported to trial. “We endured your vengeance for seven years,” Abribi said. He won’t answer questions if this continues. Some lawyers also complained about the conditions of carriage.
Due to disagreements over safety measures, the start of the trial, originally scheduled for mid-October, had to be postponed. The suspect must initially sit in individual booths. The defense opposed this. Now they sit together, in front of masked security guards, and can talk to their lawyers through holes in the box. Two defendants against whom the charges are less serious are not in the display case.
Some of the 900 co-plaintiffs were also in the room on Monday. Due to the scale of the trial, the trial takes place in converted rooms of the former NATO headquarters. The process is expected to take six to nine months. For many victims and their families, the process is not easy. “We’ll see,” says Gaetan Meuleman of the German press agency. He is spokesperson for the organization Life4Brussels (Life for Brussels), which represents the victims of the attacks.
Six of the suspects – including Abdeslam – have already been convicted in the trial of the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris. The attacks in the French and Belgian capitals probably come from the same terrorist cell.
(SDA)