First day of session after the 2016 airport and metro station attacks in Brussels
On an early spring morning, six years and eight months ago, three heavy bombs exploded in Brussels in quick succession. The first two explosions occur within 9 seconds and beyond in the departure hall of Zaventem airport. The third wreaks havoc in a subway car at Maalbeek station, close to the European buildings in the city.
Day 32 people are killed and more than 340 injured. Three perpetrators are also killed. The manhunt for the terrorists is immediately launched. It eventually turns out to be supporters of Islamic State (IS). It is the same group that caused a massacre in Paris a few four months earlier. 130 people were murdered there, including in the Bataclan concert hall.
Sala Abdeslam
The trial of ten suspects of the attacks begins today at the former NATO headquarters in the Brussels municipality of Evere. Four of them have already been sentenced to life in France for their part in the attacks there. The most famous is Salah Abdeslam (32), a Frenchman from Brussels. He also had to detonate a bomb belt in Paris. In his own words, the thing didn’t act, except he fled.
Mohamed Abrini (38), a Belgian with Moroccan roots, also ran off just before the attack on Zaventem. He became known as the “man in the hat” on security camera footage. The similar mastermind behind the attacks is also on trial, in absentia. Moroccan Oussama Atar has died in Syria, where he fought for IS. The men are composed of participation in activities of a terrorist group (which carries a prison sentence of five to ten years) and membership and leadership of a terrorist group (ten to twenty years).
The Belgians have to wait a long time for the process. It was supposed to start last September, but then corona came for a postponement. The next date, October 10, 2022, was also not picked up. Justice had a glass cage built for all suspects, in which they had to sit during the hearing. There were pieces in the glass, for consultation with their lawyers, and a small slot for passing documents.
Their lawyers called it disgraceful and confessed it was ‘degrading’ and ‘torture’. Judge Laurence Massart agreed with them. “This is an exaggerated measure,” she said. The case is already taking place in a fortified bunker, so it was not necessary to lock up each suspect separately, according to the court. So break off. Another two months delay.
Jury composition
The next big job was the composition of the jury. The case before the disabled assize court, that only the most serious crimes were dealt with. In Belgium, this includes a twelve-person jury. As a result, people were reached a thousand, which followed from the electoral register were sometimes. Those who did not show up risked a clear fine. Embarrassing: five victims of the attacks were also accidentally killed. They immediately received an apology.
A striking number of people did not feel like the process at all, not only because of the seriousness of the case, but also because it can sometimes take a long time: six to nine months. They could object, but not everything was accepted. Excuses such as “My husband will come,” “I’m a journalist,” “I’m not that interested in this,” or “My dad’s in jail” won’t help. In principle, Belgium has a jury duty. Successful: ‘I am close friends with one of the lawyers’ and ‘I can barely read or write’.
in the end, seven women and five men are comparable, and another 24 reserve jurors. They are in court from Monday to Thursday (except holidays) in previous months. Friday is a rest day. Sessions begin at 9:00 AM and last until 5:00 PM. The program for the first week mainly includes the reading of the indictment. That will take three days.
Rental van
The process is the longest and largest ever in Belgium. ‘With a street length’ even, the newspaper concludes The morning. It has more than 35 million euros and comes with an extensive elaboration of the costs. The expenses for the hall amount to 24,177,000 euros, including renovation, security, catering and cleaning. The adjustment of the glass boxes will also receive an additional 235,000 euros. The energy bill comes to 1.7 million euros, including fuel oil, electricity and water. 2.1 million has been allocated for the interpreters and 1.15 million for the 36 jury members (twelve plus the reserves). Then there is the rental of the van that drives documents and people back and forth between the former NATO complex and the Palace of Justice in the center of Brussels: 15,000 euros.
Belgium, of course, has more controversial cases. For example, Marcel Habran, ‘the godfather of the Liège mafia’, was sold in 2010 after a process of six months to fifteen years in prison. It yields the taxpayer 5 million euros, the record to date. The glass cage is not new either. In the early 1990s it was also used in the trial against the gang of Patrick Haemers (who kidnapped former Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants, among others) and ten years later by Marc Dutroux. It was even behind bulletproof glass.