(Belga) Belgium’s Court of Cassation has rejected the government’s appeals against earlier rulings that ordered the release of Nizar Trabelsi, a former Tunisian footballer who was convicted of terrorism offences in 2004. This leaves the Belgian state with no legal grounds on which to detain Trabelsi, bringing an end to the long-running judicial and diplomatic saga that has spanned two decades.
Trabelsi was sentenced to ten years in a Belgian prison for plotting to attack the Kleine-Brogel airbase, where American troops and nuclear weapons are stationed. He was also found guilty of illegally possessing arms and of being a member of al-Qaeda.
Despite a clear prohibition by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Belgium extradited Trabelsi to the United States in 2013.
