Six found guilty of murder over 2016 Brussels terror attacks

Jurors have been deliberating for nearly three weeks over ISIS-claimed suicide bombings that killed 32

A Brussels court convicted six men of murder and attempted murder on Tuesday for their part in the 2016 Islamist bombings in Brussels that killed 32 people and injured more than 300.

They included Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the trial over the 2015 Paris attacks who was seized four days before the Brussels bombings.

The 10 defendants in Brussels were tried on charges including murder, attempted murder and participation in the acts of a terrorist group.

Six of the men had already been sentenced in June 2022 at a trial in France over their role in attacks that hit Paris cafes, the Bataclan theatre and France's national stadium in 2015.

The biggest trial in Belgium's judicial history unfolded over more than seven months in a special court.

It is estimated to have cost at least 35 million euros ($37.97 million) and was held at the former headquarters of Nato, north of the Belgian capital.

The attacks took place during the morning rush hour on March 22, 2016 at Zaventem Airport and on the Brussels subway’s central commuter line.

Survivors and families of victims hope the verdict will help them find closure, lawyer Olivia Venet told The National.

“It represents an important moment in the [judicial] process,” said Ms Venet, who is a member of a group of 12 lawyers that works on behalf of Life4Brussels, an organisation set up to help the victims.

Life4Brussels' president Jamila Adda said it was also a time of high anxiety for victims.

“Some fear that prison sentences against the defendants, who have not previously been sentenced in Paris, will be light,” she said.

A jury of 12 Belgian citizens has been working on the case since July 6 in a secret location under police guard with no access to smartphones or laptops, local media reported.

They have examined nearly 300 questions aimed at evaluating whether the defendants were guilty.

Police and rescue teams outside the Maelbeek subway station in Brussels in March 2016 after the suicide attacks. AP

Sentencing will be decided in a separate process and is not expected before September. If convicted, some of the men could face up to 30 years in prison.

Several defendants have pleaded guilty but minimised their role in the preparation of the attacks.

They include Tunisian national Sofien Ayari, Swedish national Osama Krayem, and Belgian-Moroccan national Mohamed Abrini.

Abrini is known as the “man with the hat” after a picture of him pushing a trolley at Zaventem airport taken shortly before the attacks was widely circulated.

Others, such as Abdeslam have denied any knowledge of the plot.

People gather at a memorial on the Place de la Bourse in Brussels a day after the attacks. AFP

Belgian-Moroccan national Ali El Haddad Asufi, a close friend of one of the suicide bombers who worked at Zaventem airport, also denied involvement.

Bilal El Makhouki, another dual Belgian-Moroccan defendant, pleaded guilty to complicity in war crimes. He was not on trial in Paris.

Belgian-Moroccan Osama Atar, who is presumed to have died in Syria and judged in absentia, was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in Paris.

The only defendants to attend the Brussels trial as free men were Belgian-Moroccan brothers Smail and Ibrahim Farisi. They have also denied being involved.