The World Briefly
September 13, 2022A Time For Justice
Belgium
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Belgium opened a landmark trial Monday that will try the perpetrators of the 2016 terror attacks in Brussels that killed 32 people and overturned the lives of 900 more, Agence France-Presse reported.
The case centers on 10 alleged Islamic State (IS) members and their involvement in the March 22, 2016 attack on Brussels airport and a crowded subway station, considered to be the deadliest peacetime attack on Belgian soil.
The defendants face a slew of charges, including murder, attempted murder and membership in the activities of “a terrorist group.” They face sentences of up to 30 years, according to the Associated Press.
Among the accused is Salah Abdeslam, the sole survivor of the IS cell that struck the French capital in November 2015 and killed 130 people. Abdeslam has already been convicted in France and sentenced to life for his role in the Paris attacks.
The trial will be the largest ever held before a Belgian jury, with 960 plaintiffs testifying in the special high-security court set up in the sprawling former headquarters of NATO.
The court is due to pick a jury on Oct. 10, with the trial starting on Oct. 13.
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