- Title: Emotions run high as Brussels bombing victims face the defendants
- Date: 5th December 2022
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (DECEMBER 5, 2022) (REUTERS) LAWYER FOR A GROUP OF 260 VICTIMS AND VICTIMS SUPPORT GROUP ‘LIFE 4 BRUSSELS’, NATHALIE COLETTE-BASECQZ LEAVING COURTROOM DURING HEARING INTERMISSION MEMBERS OF THE BELGIAN JUSTICE MINISTRY'S VICTIMS SUPPORT GROUP ESCORTING PEOPLE OUT OF COURTROOM LAWYER FOR DEFENDANT HERVE BAYINGANA MUHIRWA, VINCENT LURQUIN LEAVING COURTROOM BRUSSELS BOMBINGS VICTIMS LOUBNA SELASSI AND SYLVIE INGELS SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) ZAVENTEM AIRPORT ATTACK VICTIM, SYLVIE INGELS, SAYING: "I don't regret coming at all. This said, when I will take the floor, I don't think it will be easy to really be in front of them (the defendants) and to have to testify. I think that there is still some progress to be made. But one thing is certain, it allowed me today in any case to have another point of view on this trial, which will take place. I will be a little more serene, perhaps less anxious in the future. I was very, very anxious. That's why I came, that's why I decided to come today. Now, the fact of having been in the room - I don't mean to be in front of them but to see them - I already see things a little differently, I'm less stressed." VARIOUS OF SELASSI AND INGELS SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) ZAVENTEM AIRPORT ATTACK VICTIM, SYLVIE INGELS, SAYING: "The defendants are already complaining about their detention and transfer conditions. Once again, I think these are conditions that are normal for me. This said, that's it, there's always something to say or to do so that we can get under the spotlight. I would say that they always have to assert themselves. They always need to be noticed in order to postpone the hearings." JOURNALIST ASKING SELASSI AND INGELS A QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (French) ZAVENTEM AIRPORT ATTACK VICTIM, LOUBNA SELASSI, SAYING: "There was an intervention by (defendant Mohamed) Abrini, one of the defendants. It is a particularly difficult moment because because he calls into question the dignity of the defendants. And that has nothing to do with it, but I always want to bring it back to the victims because we have been suffering for 6 years - almost 7 years - we don't talk about our dignity. We have to fight every day. We have to assert our rights. We always have to justify ourselves and that's where it hurts." LAWYER FOR DEFENDANT ALI EL HADDAD ASUFI, JEAN-CHRISTOPHE DE BLOCK AND LAWYER FOR DEFENDANT IBRAHIM FARISI, XAVIER CARRETTE WALKING TOWARDS COURTROOM DIRECTOR OF VICTIMS DEFENCE ORGANIZATION 'V-EUROPE' , PHILIPPE VANSTEENKISTE, AND HIS LAWYER GUILLAUME LYS WALKING TOWARDS COURTROOM MAELBEEK METRO STATION ATTACK VICTIM, CHRISTELLE GIOVANNETTI SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) MAELBEEK METRO STATION ATTACK VICTIM, CHRISTELLE GIOVANNETTI, SAYING: "I believe that it will be the violence of the debates which will be the difficulty of this trial. It is necessary to expect anything to happen, apparently." POLICEMEN ON DUTY VARIOUS OF PARAMEDIC WHO HELPED RESCUE VICTIMS OF THE MAELBEEK METRO STATION ATTACK, GAETAN MEULEMAN, SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARAMEDIC WHO HELPED RESCUE VICTIMS OF THE MAELBEEK METRO STATION ATTACK, GAETAN MEULEMAN, SAYING: "Indeed the intervention of (defendant Mohamed) Abrini raises questions. We thought, 'ouch', we will have to go through new turpitudes. We hope in any case that the response of the (Belgian) Ministry of Justice (to the demands of the defendants) will be adapted. We obviously have full confidence in the criminal court and its president. Now the answers are not for us (to answer), it's procedural. What we want is for this trial to take place with dignity and for us to obtain answers." VICTIMS WALKING TOWARDS COURTROOM MEULEMAN SPEAKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARAMEDIC WHO HELPED RESCUE VICTIMS OF THE MAELBEEK METRO STATION ATTACK, GAETAN MEULEMAN, SAYING: "What we want is that everything be done by the Minister of Justice so that this trial can hold properly. For me, this is the key word." LAWYER FOR DEFENDANT SALAH ABDESLAM, DELPHINE PACI AND LAWYER FOR DEFENDANT BILAL EL MAKHOUKHI, VIRGINIE TAELMAN WALKING TOWARDS COURTROOM VARIOUS OF VICTIMS WALKING BELGIAN POLICE STANDING OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE 'JUSTITIA' POLICE VAN DRIVING OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE ENTRANCE TO COURTHOUSE POLICE VAN PARKED OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE
- Embargoed: 19th December 2022 14:33
- Keywords: Airport Attack Bombing Brussels Courthouse Courtroom Daesh Day 1 Islamic State Judge Justice Killing Maelbeek station Metro Mohamed Abrini Salah Abdeslam Subway Trial Victims Zaventem
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA001454205122022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT 3078-BELGIUM-SECURITY-TRIAL-PREVIEW CONTAINS FILE ABOUT 2016 BRUSSELS BOMBINGS
The largest trial in Belgian history kicked off on Monday (December 5) with 10 men accused of involvement in Islamist suicide bombings in Brussels in 2016 that killed 32 people and injured over 300.
Set to last seven months, the trial revived painful memories for those who lost loved ones, were injured or witnessed the twin bombings at the airport and a third bomb on the metro on March 22, 2016.
Nine of the accused are charged with multiple murders and attempted murders in a terrorist context, and face potential life sentences. One of the group is presumed to have been killed in Syria and is being tried in absentia.
Presiding judge Laurence Massart confirmed the identity of the defendants and outlined the trial schedule.
Mohamed Abrini, who prosecutors say fled the airport without detonating his suitcase of explosives, then interrupted her to complain about the conditions of his daily transport from jail.
If strip searches, blindfolds and "satanic music" played through headphones continued, he said, he would refuse to answer any questions. Lawyers for other accused also complained, saying this had not happened in a parallel trial in Paris.
Loubna Selassi, whose husband was an airport baggage handler and lost a leg in the bombings, said Abrini's complaint had been hard to hear.
"We have been suffering for 6 years - almost 7 years - we don't talk about our dignity. We have to fight every day. We have to assert our rights. We always have to justify ourselves and that's where it hurts," she said.
"I think these are conditions that are normal for me. This said, that's it, there's always something to say or to do so that we can get under the spotlight. I would say that they always have to assert themselves. They always need to be noticed in order to postpone the hearings," said Sylvie Ingels, who was near the first airport bomb.
"I believe that it will be the violence of the debates which will be the difficulty of this trial," Christelle Giovannetti, who now wears hearing aids due to injuries in the metro bombing, told reporters after the trial began.
Six of the accused were found guilty in June of involvement in the terror attacks in Paris in November 2015, which killed 130 people. However, the Belgian trial will be different in that it will be determined by a jury not judges.
The Brussels bombings were claimed by Islamic State and killed 15 men and 17 women, who came from Belgium, the United States, Netherlands, Sweden, Britain, China, France, Germany, India, Peru and Poland -- many of them based in the city which is home to EU institutions and NATO.
The trial in the former headquarters of NATO is estimated to cost at least 35 million euros.
(Production: Christian Levaux, Clement Rossignol) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None