(National-UAE) A stand-off has enveloped the long-awaited 2016 Brussels bombing trial which has faced a rocky start as the main defendants of the triple suicide attacks that killed 32 people have refused to comply with the security procedures put in place.
Six defendants — Ali El Haddad Asufi, Mohamed Abrini, Osama Krayem, Sofien Ayari, Bilal El Makhoukhi and Herve Bayingana Muhirwa — walked out on Monday as the trial entered its second week. The boycott is over measures which include strip searches twice a day, lawyers have told the National.
A lawyer of seventh defendant Salah Abdeslam said he was not attending the hearing because he had a cold.
