More than six years after the Islamist terror attacks in Brussels, a jury has begun trying those allegedly responsible and those who helped them. The President of the Court, Laurence Massart, officially opened the process this morning. She asked the nine defendants for their names, age, profession, place of birth and place of residence.
APA/AFP/Olivier Matthys
During the 22 March 2016 attacks, three suicide bombers from the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization detonated bombs at Brussels Zaventem Airport and at a metro station in the EU district. 32 people died and hundreds were injured, some seriously.
Ten men have already been charged with the crime, one of whom is said to have died in Syria. Eight defendants are charged with 32 counts of terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder of 695 people and involvement in activities of a terrorist organization. The Public Ministry charges only the ninth with the third point.
Six of the accused have already been convicted in the Paris attacks trial on November 13, 2015. By that time, extremists had killed 130 people and injured another 350 in a series of attacks. The attacks in the French and Belgian capitals likely came from the same terrorist cell.