After the attacks in Brussels in 2016, several defendants were found guilty of terrorist murders. Among them is Salah Abdeslam, who is already serving a life sentence in France for the 2015 Paris attacks.
In the trial of the Islamist attacks in Brussels in 2016, the jury found several of the ten accused guilty. This was announced by court president Laurence Massart in the Belgian capital.
According to the Belgian news agency Belga, six people have been convicted of terrorist murder. Three were therefore acquitted of this charge.
A twelve-member jury read the verdict after more than two weeks of deliberation without contact with the outside world. The penalties will be decided in September.
Two culprits previously sentenced to life imprisonment
The culprits include Salah Abdeslam – the prime suspect in the trial over the Paris attacks of 2015. He is already serving a life sentence for the Paris attacks.
Moroccan-born Belgian Mohamed Abrini was also convicted. He was supposed to detonate an explosives belt at Brussels airport, but according to his own statements, shied away at the last moment when he saw women and children in the queue – at least that’s what he said in the process.
Abrini was also sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2015 Paris attacks.
terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels
In the terrorist attacks of March 22, 2016 at Zaventem Airport and in a metro station in Brussels, 32 people died and 340 were injured. The jury decided to add four more deaths to the casualties. They died after the attacks – after a long illness or by suicide. The official death toll rose from 32 to 36.
It is assumed that one of the ten accused has now probably died in Syria. Eight defendants were charged with 32 counts of terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder of almost 700 people and involvement in the activities of a terrorist organization. The prosecution charged the ninth only with the third point.
Great public interest
Before the attacks in Brussels, extremists had killed 130 people and injured 350 others in a series of attacks on November 13, 2015 in Paris. The attacks in Paris and Brussels were probably committed by the same terrorist cell, which is why six of those convicted in Paris were also on trial in Brussels. The terrorist group “Islamic State” claimed responsibility for both the Paris and Brussels attacks.
Public interest in the trial with more than 900 joint plaintiffs was great. Therefore, the trial was held in converted premises of the former NATO headquarters in the north-east of the city.