In the midst of a rigid security protocol at a former NATO headquarters, nine suspects were brought to trial, several of whom have already been convicted in France for their participation or complicity in the November 2015 attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis. .
The first day of this judicial process was dedicated entirely to the constitution of the popular jury, an objective successfully achieved after twelve hours of a hearing that concluded shortly before 11:15 p.m. (22:15 GMT).
On March 22, 2016, two suicide jihadists detonated explosives in the departure lounge of Brussels’ main airport, in Zaventem, and simultaneously a third jihadist did the same at a subway station in the Belgian capital.
At the trial, which began six and a half years later, a tenth suspect, Usama Atar, will be tried in absentia as authorities presumed he was killed in Syria.
It is the largest criminal trial in the history of Belgium, as some 1,000 people filed a civil claim.
After the formation of the popular jury, the debates are scheduled to begin on December 5 and should last until June.
According to a tentative schedule, the nine defendants would begin to be directly questioned as of December 19, with the first witnesses to be heard in mid-January.
The main accused in this process is Abdeslam Salah, the only survivor of the commandos that carried out the 2015 attacks in Paris.
– Arduous definition –
On March 18, 2016, Salah was arrested in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek, where he had taken refuge after the attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis, which left 130 people dead.
This Wednesday, at the opening of the hearing, he identified himself as “Abdeslam Salah, electromechanical”.
All nine defendants were present in court at the start of the hearing. Seven of them were inside an armored box, and another two were able to appear free.
Only one of them – the Swede of Syrian origin Osama Krayem – refused to stand up when named.
During the selection of the 12 members of the jury, dozens of Belgian citizens (of the 600 summoned) turned to those responsible to justify a request for exemption.
“I’m going to have surgery in March,” said one of them. “I have to breastfeed my 8-month-old baby” or “I already booked my vacation in Thailand”, were some of the arguments put forward. Others chose to present personal ties to one of the victims, a situation that could affect their impartiality.
The entrance The trial against those accused of the 2016 attacks begins in Brussels was first published on newspaper TODAY.
