In the middle of the Parisian trial, a Belgian court in turn seized on Tuesday April 19 of the sprawling file of the jihadist attacks of November 13, 2015, to establish the responsibilities of 13 men and a woman tried for having provided assistance, even minimal, to the commandos.
Read alsoNovember 13 trial: why Salah Abdeslam should be listened to
These are suspects who have been excluded from the French procedure, but are suspected by Belgium of having transported, hosted or financially assisted certain perpetrators of the attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis which left 130 dead and hundreds injured. .
These attacks, claimed by the Islamic State group, were largely prepared from Belgian territory where the jihadist cell had half a dozen hideouts.
After the bloody outfit of the Stade de France, the terraces and the killing of the Parisian hall of the Bataclan, the Belgian anti-terrorist justice very quickly opened an investigation, of which this trial in Brussels is the culmination.
14 defendants
The trial, which opens at 2:00 p.m. (12:00 GMT) at the former NATO headquarters placed under heavy police protection, is due to continue until May 20 with two or three hearing days a week.
Unless unforeseen, the court intends to render its judgment on June 30 at the latest.
Eleven men, one of whom is presumed dead, must answer for "
participation in the activities of a terrorist group
", which can earn them up to five years in prison.
Another suspect, considered by the prosecution as a "
leader
" of this group, faces up to 15 years in prison.
This is the Belgian-Ivorian Sammy Djedou, judged by default because he would also have died in Syria where he was among the senior leaders of the IS.
Finally, two of the 14 defendants are accused of related offences: one of them is tried for violations of the laws on weapons and explosives, and the other - the only woman in the case - for providing false papers to members of the cell behind the attacks in Paris and Brussels (32 dead in March 2016).
“Too painful memories”
For the most part, the suspects gravitated to the entourage of Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the November 13 commandos, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the coordinator of the attacks, and the two El Bakraoui brothers, the cousins of the "
brain
" Osama Atar who blew themselves up in the metro and at Brussels airport on March 22, 2016. One of them, Abid Aberkane, is on trial for hiding Salah Abdeslam at his mother's home in Molenbeek in the last few days preceding the arrest of the French jihadist, on March 18, 2016.
Another, Youssef El Ajmi, accompanied his friend Ibrahim El Bakraoui to the airport twice in the summer of 2015, first to Amsterdam-Schiphol and then a month later to Paris-Roissy.
According to the prosecution, he could not ignore that El Bakraoui wanted at all costs to reach Syria from Turkish soil, which his lawyer will dispute.
“
It was not marked on his forehead that he (El Bakraoui) was going to fight in Syria, how many Belgians knew at the time that the caliphate had been proclaimed there?
“, asks Me Michel Bouchat.
"
Afterwards, driving a friend to the airport became part of a terrorist group, it was easy to make claims of intent
", squeaks the defender of El Ajmi.
Read also "Tribune for Abdeslam", accused "remained": what survivors of November 13 think of the trial
At this stage, seven people have joined the trial as civil parties.
Among them are the parents and a sister of Elif Dogan, a Liégeoise of Turkish origin killed at the age of 27 on the terrace of the bar Le Carillon in Paris on the evening of November 13.
“
In order not to revive too painful memories, they do not intend to come and testify in court
,” their lawyer, Julie Henkinbrant, told AFP.
In Paris, a special assize court has been trying since September 20 defendants - including 14 present - in the November 13 case.
The verdict is expected at the end of June.
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