Trial of Brussels terror attack that killed 32 people begins
Brussels, Dec 5 (EFE).- The trial of 10 people accused of being behind a terror attack in Brussels that killed 32 people began on Monday in the Belgian capital.
The hearings got underway more than six years after the attacks on the Belgian capital’s airport and metro and nearly two months after the initially scheduled start date.
The 10 accused include Salah Abdeslam, the sole survivor of the Paris attacks on November 13, 2015, and Mohamed Abrini and Osama Krayem, who had planned to detonate explosive belts they were wearing during the Brussels attacks before changing their minds at the last minute.
Six of the defendants on trial (Abdeslam, Abrini, Krayem, Sofien Ayari, Ali El Haddad Asufi and Osama Atar) have already been convicted for the attacks on the French capital. Atar is believed to have died in Syria.
The court proceedings, expected to be concluded in June or July next year, are being held in the buildings that until 2018 housed the Nato headquarters.
The defendants will be arraigned on Tuesday.
On March 22, 2016, two explosions occurred at Brussels’ international airport on the outskirts of the city, where 16 people were killed.
A third explosion struck Maelbeek metro station, 200m from the European Commission headquarters, killing another 16 people.
In addition to the 32 dead, the attacks left around 300 people injured. EFE
jug/ks
