Brussels Airport Bombing Trial Begins After Six Years

Over 700 potential jurors have been called up for the trial which centers around the deadliest peacetime attack on Belgian soil.


FILE – A banner for the victims of the bombings reads “I am Brussels” at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, March 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, file)

The process of selecting jurors for the largest-ever trial in Belgium has begun. A total of over 700 Belgians have been summoned for the trial of 10 men accused of involvement in the 2016 bombings of Brussels Airport and an underground metro station that killed 32 people.

The trial begins in earnest Monday, some six years since years after the attack, which remains the deadliest peacetime attack on Belgian soil. The court summoned 1,000 Belgians for jury service and accepted the appeals of around 300 potential jurors wishing to be exempted. The remaining candidates were required to come on Wednesday or risk a fine of up to Ђ8,000 (USD 8,430).

The court will choose 12 people and 24 replacement jurors for the case, which has 960 civil plaintiffs. The hundreds of potential jurors filed through airport-style security checks and into eight waiting rooms before appearing before Judge Laurence Massart.

The trial is finally underway

The session began after a half-hour delay when presiding judge Laurence Massart addressed the court to assign translators and asked the defendants to identify themselves and confirm their lawyers. The ten defendants are charged with murder and attempted murder in a terrorist context and leading or participating in the activities of a terrorist group over the dual bombings at Brussels Airport and the third bomb on the metro on March 22, 2016.

The main proceedings of the trial are due to start on Monday at the former headquarters of the NATO military alliance, which has been converted into a high-security court complex. One defendant will be tried in absentia, as he is believed to have died in the Islamic State’s final months of fighting in Iraq and Syria. If convicted, some of the defendants could face up to 30 years in prison.

The trial is expected to last six to nine months and will hear from hundreds of survivors and witnesses, in addition to experts in medicine, psychiatry, and criminology. There are 14 lawyers representing pro bono the nearly 300 people who have filed civil lawsuits at the trial with the Life4Brussels organization, a group supporting victims of the attacks. Maryse Alié, a lawyer working with the group, gave an insight into the courtroom:

“The defendants were talking to each other (during the jury selection), it’s not a bad thing since it is extremely important for the victims that they are in good condition to explain, to address the court, and answer questions.”

Victims of the bombings will have the chance to speak to the court beginning in January.

Remembering those lost

A total of thirty-two people died in the three explosions or later from their injuries, in addition to the three bombers. Sixteen victims lost their lives in the airport attack, and 16 others at Maelbeek, plus more than 340 people who were severely injured.

The attack began with two synchronized explosions in the check-in area of Brussels Airport in Zaventem at 07:58 local time. A third improvised explosive device was taken into the terminal but was not detonated. The final attack came just over an hour later at the Maelbeek metro station, which stands close to several EU institutions in the city center. Among those lost in the attack was Andre Adam, the former ambassador to the United States and Belgian ambassador to the United Nations during the September 11 attacks and the Afghanistan war.

The police were subsequently approached by the taxi driver, who said he had driven the three men with big bags to the airport on the morning of the attacks. A police raid of the location found a large nail bomb at the address the taxi driver gave them, along with high explosives, chemicals, detonators, and auxiliary bomb-making materials.

The trial was initially expected to start in October but was pushed back to allow sufficient time to replace individual glass boxes for the defendants. Defense lawyers argued that they could not adequately consult with their clients and that the boxes made them look like animals in a cage. The boxes have now been replaced by one large cubicle shared by the defendants.