Sharia4Belgium leader sentenced to 12 years

In the largest terrorism trial ever held in Belgium, Fouad Belkacem (pictured), leader of the radical Islamist group Sharia4Belgium, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Belkacem was one of 45 defendants involved in the four-month trial in Antwerp, accused of membership of a terrorist organisation.

The main charge against Sharia4Belgium concerned the recruitment of young men to the cause of armed jihad, after which they would be sent to Syria to fight. One of their recruits, Jejoen Bontinck, made headlines last year when his father, Dimitri, travelled to Syria to bring him back – unsuccessfully. The youth, who eventually returned on his own, later gave evidence for the prosecution and ultimately received a sentence of 40 months suspended.

“He got off lightly,” his father said outside the court. “He’s happy, and so am I.”

Belkacem’s lawyer, Abderrahim Lahlali, had called for his acquittal and stated after the trial that he would study the ruling thoroughly before deciding whether to appeal. The ruling, he said, contained “certain contradictions”.

In total, the court handed out sentences of 296 years. The majority of the accused were not present, among them Brian De Mulder, sentenced to five years. He remains, like many of his co-accused, in Syria.

Another Belgian, Michael Delefortrie, was sentenced to three years suspended and walked out of court a free man, ready to “grasp with both hands” the second chance the court had given him, his lawyer, Ergun Top, said.

According to federal justice minister Koen Geens, those sentenced to prison could be housed in cells separate from the rest of the prison population if there is a perceived risk of radicalising other prisoners. “If there is no risk, we would prefer them to be integrated with other prisoners,” he said. “But there are sure to be cases where there is a chance of incitement to radicalisation.”

photo: Belga