Brussels terror attack trials halted over questions on expert’s impartiality

May 18, 2023   

(Brussels Times) The 2016 terror attacks trial was adjourned at the Brussels Assize Court after a suspect’s lawyer investigated potential issues of impartiality behind the testimony of psychiatric expert Samuel Leistedt.

Nicolas Cohen, the lawyer for the terror suspect Bilal El Makhoukhi, asked the court to be able to consult a medical report created by Leistedt on behalf of prison authorities. Cohen said that the defence must be able to review the quality of the work drawn up by the psychiatrist, notably to verify for any biased testimony.

The issue was first raised by El [Makhoukhi]’s defence counsel on Tuesday. In 2022, Leistedt was ordered to update a psychiatric report on the four terror suspects on behalf of the court.

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