- Title: 'I am serene,' Brussels attacks victim says as trial kicks off
- Date: 12th September 2022
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (SEPTEMBER 12, 2022) (REUTERS) POLICE
- Embargoed: 26th September 2022 10:32
- Keywords: Abdeslam Abrini Belgium Bombing Brussels Brussels Attacks Court Courtroom Explosion Judge Lawyer Maelbeek Metro Start Subway Trial Victim Zaventem
- Location: Brussels, BELGIUM
- City: Brussels, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Europe,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA007464312092022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT 4552-BELGIUM-SECURITY/TRIAL-FILE CONTAINS FILE MATERIAL ABOUT THE 2016 BRUSSELS ATTACKS
The trial of 10 men accused of participating in the 2016 Brussels bombings that killed 32 people began on Monday (September 12) with defence lawyers arguing their clients should not be put in glass boxes like caged animals.
Monday's trial launch in the former headquarters of NATO in a Brussels suburb focused on procedural matters ahead of proceedings due to begin in October into the Islamist bombings at Brussels airport and on the city's metro in March 2016.
The special court for one of Belgium's largest trials features a series of individual glass compartments into which nine accused were placed on Monday.
"Is this a palace of justice or the Antwerp zoo? That's my point. Everyone who sees them will say that they are guilty and that they should stay in the boxes," said Sebastien Courtois, the lawyer for one of the accused, Smail Farisi.
President judge Laurence Massart heard arguments on the topic on Monday.
The jury trial includes six men already convicted in June by a French court for their involvement in the 2015 Paris attacks that killed 130 people.
They include Mohamed Abrini, who prosecutors say went to Brussels Airport in March 2016 with two suicide bombers but fled without detonating his suitcase of explosives, and Osama Krayem, a Swedish national accused of planning to be a second bomber on Brussels' metro.
Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the French trial, is also among the accused, along with others prosecutors say hosted certain attackers. One accused is presumed killed in Syria.
Massart asked the defendants to confirm their ages and previous addresses before most then returned to their cells.
Lawyers for victims of the attacks, including some 340 people injured, expressed hope the trial would settle issues of compensation and answer many questions.
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