Six found guilty in 2016 Brussels terrorist attacks
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A jury convicted six men of terrorist murder in the 2016 attacks at a Brussels airport and metro station that killed 32 people and injured more than 300, capping Belgium’s largest trial on record and bringing some closure to a years-long search for justice. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia’s war in Ukraine. ArrowRight The 12-person jury reached its decision Tuesday, after deliberating for weeks. The high-security trial began in December and saw more than 900 plaintiffs in a special court at NATO’s former headquarters. The jurors deliberated over about 300 questions the court asked them to consider, the Associated Press reported.
On March 22, 2016, suicide bombers detonated two explosives at the Brussels airport and the Maelbeek metro station, close to the European Parliament and European Commission buildings. Belgian officials at the time described it as a “black day.” The Islamic State militant group asserted responsibility for the attacks, part of a wave of terrorist violence that hit major European cities.
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One of those convicted of terrorist murder was Salah Abdeslam, who had already been serving a life sentence in France for his role in the November 2015 Paris attacks, which killed 130 people at a theater, a stadium and cafes. He was the only extremist who survived those attacks and was arrested only days before the Brussels bombings.
Of the 10 people facing charges in the Brussels attacks, eight were convicted of terrorist group activities, with six of them additionally convicted of terrorist murder. Two brothers were acquitted.
Those convicted of murder in a terrorist context included Brussels native Mohamed Abrini, a childhood friend of Abdeslam, and Oussama Atar, who is thought to have died and was tried in absentia, reported local news outlet HLN. Others are Osama Krayem, Ali El Haddad Asufi and Bilal El Makhoukhi. Several of the men had already been sentenced in the Paris attacks.
The defendants will be sentenced at a later date, officials said.
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Source: The Washington Post
