Brussels terror attacks: Pre-trial proceedings begin at former Nato HQ

Nearly five years and nine months after the Brussels terror attacks, the pre-trial proceedings in the case against the accused begin on Monday morning.

On 22 March 2016, terrorists killed 32 people and injured 340 others in two separate attacks an hour apart, one on a metro train as it stopped at the Maelbeek metro station in the European quarter of the city, and one in the check-in area of Brussels airport.

The proceedings will take place behind closed doors at a specially designed building in the former Nato headquarters in Evere, on the outskirts of Brussels, now renamed Justitia, remodelled to house the biggest trial in Belgian history.

Over the next 10 working days, the court will decide which of the 16 accused should go to a full trial, and what charges they should face. The court will also have to decide whether the trial goes ahead with a jury or not, and whether all accused will be tried at the same time. The main trial, in whatever form is decided upon, is expected to start towards the end of 2021.

The 16 accused include the four suspected bombers – three of whom died in their own attacks, and Mohamed Abrini, who walked away. Eight of the accused face charges of 32 counts of murder aggravated by the circumstance that they were committed for terrorist reasons. These are Salah Abdeslam, Osama Atar (who is believed to have died in Syria in November 2017), Mohamed Abrini, Sofien Ayari, Osama Krayem, Ali El Haddad Asufi, Bilal El Makhoukhi and Hervé Bayingana Muhirwa. It is expected that the cases against these eight will be heard at the full trial.

In addition, there are 687 charges of attempted terrorist murder, relating to those injured in the attacks and those in the direct vicinity at the two bombings. Other charges relate to the organisation and planning of the operation.

If all the charges brought by the federal prosecutor’s office are accepted by the court, 30,000 accusations will have to be heard.