Former terrorist suspect files complaint against wrongful arrests

Fayçal Cheffou, accused last year of being the airport terrorist suspect known as “the man in the hat”, has filed a complaint against the police for harassment. He claimed that police have picked him up for three other incidents, also without reason.

Security footage from the Brussels Airport bombing on 22 March 2016 showed a man leaving the airport seconds after the explosions – the same man who had earlier been seen in the departures hall with the bombers. Using footage from other cameras, police were able to follow the “man in the hat” as he made his way on foot to Schaarbeek, when his trail was lost.

Cheffou (pictured) – who became a media figure during the summer of 2015 working with refugees in the tent camp that set up in Brussels’ Maximilian Park – was arrested two days after the attacks and accused of being the man in the hat. It was a case of mistaken identity: The man in the hat turned out to be Mohamed Abrini, who was arrested days later and remains in custody.

Cheffou was released but detained again several days later when he gained entry to a friend’s apartment, apparently with the friend’s permission. He was again rapidly released.

In another incident, police were carrying out a search warrant to located someone who had returned from fighting in Syria. Most recently, Cheffou was picked up on suspicion of calling in a bomb threat to the Ancienne Belgique concert hall in Brussels.

The complaint will now be investigated.

Photo: In a 2014 YouTube video, Fayçal Cheffou demanded that authorities respect the rights of asylum-seekers