Six-and-a-half years after the events, the Brussels Assizes Court on Monday begins a judicial marathon to try the ten co-authors of the 2016 jihadist attacks in the Belgian capital that killed 32 people.
On March 22, 2016, at 7:58 a.m. at Javentem Airport and then at 9:11 a.m. at Melbeek metro station, two attacks shook Brussels, Belgium, and even the whole of Europe. The terrorist organization behind the November 13 Paris attacks.
The investigation into the attacks begins Monday morning with a preliminary hearing in Brussels. The nine defendants have been summoned to appear for a trial that could last eight to 10 months.
Five of them have already been sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the November 2015 Paris attacks. Among them were Salah Abdeslam and Mohamed Abrini, nicknamed “the man with the hat”, who gave up trying to blow himself up in Javentem. airport.
>> Read More: Ten defendants returned for the Brussels attacks
960 Civil Parties
Opposite, 960 civil parties, victims or relatives of victims, demand truth and justice. But they will need a little more patience: this first hearing is called “preliminary” to organize the court’s work.
Already, lawyers are protesting against conditions for accused to appear in closed private boxes, which would limit communication possibilities.
>> One year after the attacks in Brussels listen to the topic of the forum:
“total chaos”
Several witnesses spoke of “total chaos” and “scenes of war” to describe the situation in Javentem and Melbeek metro after the bombings, which killed sixteen people in each of the two locations.
The trial, which is being held at NATO’s former Brussels headquarters, was made available to a Belgian judge. Since the main courtroom can accommodate only 170 people, seven so-called “relay” rooms have been set up for civil parties, where video transmission of proceedings and remote intervention is possible.
>> Read More: In Belgium, five years after the attacks in Brussels, national tributes
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