Belgium’s largest ever trial begins over Brussels bombings

• Belgium’s largest-ever terrorism trial began in Brussels on Monday.
• A jury, not judges, will decide the fate of 10 individuals accused of taking part in terrorist activities.

Belgium’s largest-ever trial to investigate if 10 individuals were involved in the jihadist suicide bombings that occurred in Brussels in 2016 that left 32 people dead and over 300 injured began on Monday.

More than six years after the bombings, presiding judge Laurence Massart will announce on Monday all parties to the case, including the defendants and attorneys for the almost 1,000 victims of the atrocities that Islamic State has claimed responsibility for.

She will then address the jury, which was chosen last week after a 14-hour process including 1,000 Belgians.

The French trial for the November 2015 Paris attacks has direct connections to the Brussels bombings trial. Six of the Brussels defendants were given prison terms ranging from 10 years to life in France in June, but the Belgian trial will be unique since a jury, not judges, will decide the case.

15 men and 17 women, including Belgians, Americans, Dutch, Swedes, and citizens of Britain, were killed in the twin bombs at Brussels Airport and a third blast in the city’s subway system on March 22, 2016.

Numerous nations, including China, France, Germany, India, Peru, and Poland, have offices in Brussels, which also houses NATO and the EU’s institutions.

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All 10 individuals are accused of taking part in terrorist organization activities, and nine men face life sentences for several killings and attempted murders committed in a terrorist-related context.

They include Osama Krayem, a Swedish national accused of plotting to be a second bomber on the Brussels metro, and Mohamed Abrini, who authorities claim travelled to the airport with two suicide bombers but fled without setting off his bag of explosives.

Along with other people who the prosecution alleges harbored or assisted specific terrorists, Salah Abdeslam, the primary suspect in the Paris trial, is also charged.

One of the ten people believed to have died in Syria will be tried in absentia.

The defendants have not admitted guilt or innocence, in accordance with Belgian court process.

Before the hearings of over 370 experts and witnesses can commence on Tuesday, prosecutors are anticipated to begin reading from the 486-page indictment.

The trial, which will take place in the former NATO headquarters, is anticipated to last seven months and cost at least 35 million euros ($36.9 million).

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