(Brussels Times) The Antwerp Criminal Court is due to issue its verdict on Wednesday in the trial of an alleged terrorist group accused of plotting to murder the city’s mayor, Bart De Wever, who also chairs the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA).
The suspects were apprehended on 27 March 2023 in a series of raids carried out in Antwerp, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Eupen. Police had been monitoring their activities for several months after Antwerp’s Federal Judicial Police (FJP) were alerted by state security about worrisome actions initiated by prime suspect Elias E.A.
The federal prosecutor revealed that Elias E.A. had been posting Islamic State (ISIS) propaganda on social media. He also filmed a training video in which he portrayed himself as an ISIS combatant apparently ready to resort to violence.
