(Brussels Times) Belgium did not overstep the line when it stripped two convicted terrorists of their Belgian nationality in 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Thursday. The convicted terrorists were Malika El Aroud — also known to the […]
(Brussels Times) While the various political parties remain very discreet about their negotiations to form the Brussels-Capital Region government, the French-speaking liberals MR and regionalist DéFi vetoed the presence of the Team Fouad Ahidar party in a future government. MR party leader […]
(Brussels Times) The Flemish far-right Vlaams Belang party replaced the Antwerp place name signs with Arabic ones on Thursday night, as a protest against “the Islamisation of the city.” However, Arabic speakers have pointed out that they completely misspelt the new name. […]
(Brussels Times) Over a month after two Swedish citizens were killed during a terror attack in Brussels, Belgium will maintain terrorist threat level 3 for now, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. Belgium’s Coordination Body […]
(Brussels Times) As a new suspect was arrested for his possible involvement in the recent shooting in Brussels, and the violence between Israel and Hamas continues, Belgium is expected to remain at terrorism threat level 3 for “some time.” Two Swedish citizens […]
(Brussels Times) A man who was arrested in the investigation into the Brussels attack on 16 October denies his involvement, his lawyer announced. A decision on his further arrest will be made later on Monday. The federal prosecutor’s office ordered two house […]
(Brussels Times) The final curtain has fallen over the biggest-ever trial in Belgium as none of the parties involved in the trial of the 2016 Brussels terror attacks has appealed in cassation, meaning that the sentences handed down by the court on […]
(Brussels Times) The Neptunium swimming pool, which reopened this weekend after six years of major renovation works, will permit people to swim in a burkini (a swimsuit typically worn by Muslim women, covering their entire body) so everyone can enjoy the facilities. […]
(Brussels Times) The court and the jury have started their deliberations on the sentences of the eight convicted men in the next phase of the trial for the March 2016 terror attacks in Brussels. An important legal-technical question is also being discussed […]
(Brussels Times) After 19 days of deliberations (the longest deliberation ever at an Assize trial in Belgium), the jury will publicly announce its verdict at the trial on the March 2016 Brussels terror attacks at 16:30 on Tuesday. In early July, the […]
(Brussels Times) Today (Thursday) is the last day of the Brussels terror attacks trial before the jury will deliberate whether the accused men are guilty and on what counts. In early December, the trial on the 2016 terror attacks at Brussels Airport […]
(Brussels Times) Belgium’s Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne has contradicted an announcement made by Iran that the much-discussed prisoner swap to free Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele has been agreed. Despite long efforts to broker an agreement that would see Vandecasteele liberated […]
(Brussels Times) Some 20 Brussels cultural institutions have launched a “Ramadan-friendly” label, which allows spectators to break their fast during the show and gives a warning if the performance includes violence, nudity or music. Flemish Minister-President and Cultural Minister Jan Jambon, however, […]
(Brussels Times) One of the accused in the trial of the 22 March 2016 terror attacks in Brussels, Salah Abdeslam, stated that he would remain in his cell until the verdict is passed following an earlier complaint in which he claimed he […]
(Brussels Times) One of the accused men in the trial on the 22 March 2016 terror attacks in Brussels, Mohamed Abrini, wanted to cause trouble and hide a knife, according to the risk assessment that the police relied on for the much-discussed […]
(Brussels Times) Uncertainty about whether those standing trial for their role in the 22 March 2016 terror attacks in Brussels should be subject to systematic strip searches has been cleared up as the Federal Police chief stated that any nude search must […]
(Brussels Times) The deradicalisation centre for the support and care of anyone affected by violent extremism and radicalism (Caprev), which followed up on the suspect of the knife attack — Yassine M. — that killed one police officer and gravely injured another […]
(Brussels Times) Twelve recognised Diyanet mosques in Flanders, associated with the Turkish Ministry of Religious Affairs, must remain free of influence from Turkey if they wish to maintain their recognition, announced Flemish Minister for Coexistence Bart Somers. After a year-long stop in […]
(Brussels Times) The mayors of Molenbeek, Anderlecht, Schaerbeek and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode have forbidden a Flemish and a Dutch far-right politician, both known for their anti-immigrant stance, from visiting their municipalities on Friday. On 26 April, Flemish far-right Vlaams Belang politician Filip Dewinter announced […]
(Brussels Times) More than 75 mosques in Flanders applied for recognition nearly three years ago, but have been kept waiting as the Muslim Executive “is not cooperating,” said Flemish Minister of Coexistence Bart Somers. Due to the lack of an effective recognition […]
(Brussels Times) Federal Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne has decided to withdraw the recognition of the Muslim Executive — the official representation of Islam in Belgium — after the organisation has been under sustained criticism. The Muslim Executive receives approximately €600,000 in […]
(Brussels Times) Despite discrimination in Brussels institutions being illegal, a recent incident in which job applicants were prohibited from wearing a headscarf shows that it does still happen, says Brussels MP Fouad Ahidar. At the end of September, the Sainte-Geneviève Catholic elementary […]
(Brussels Times) The decision to implement women-only hours and allow the wearing of a burkini in Brussels’ recently opened public open-air swimming pool is at the base of a political debate in Belgium. The FLOW swimming pool opened its doors in the […]
(Brussels Times) On Friday, the leader of the Francophone liberal MR party, Georges-Louis Bouchez, protested against the fact that Brussels’ first public open-air swimming pool allows women to wear a burkini. The FLOW pool, which opened at the Pierre Marchant bridge in […]
(Brussels Times) The president of the Francophone liberal MR party, Georges-Louis Bouchez, put the topic of the ban on headscarves back on the table following the appointment of Ihsane Haouach as government commissioner at the Institute of Equality for Women and Men. […]
(Brussels Times) The Jewish Museum in Brussels commemorated the seventh anniversary of the terror attack that took place there on 24 May 2014 with a subdued ceremony. The commemoration was attended by Chief Rabbi Albert Guigui, Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort and Brussels […]
(Brussels Times) The Brussels municipality of Molenbeek forbids the arrival of the Danish anti-Islam politician Rasmus Paludan, who had announced he would come to the commune for a Koran-burning protest. In August, a public burning of the Koran in an immigration neighbourhood […]
(Brussels Times) Belgian police arrested two minors, who were suspected of planning a terrorist attack against the police, in the area of Eupen in the Liège province last weekend. Searches took place in Eupen and La Calamine, both in the Liège province, […]
(Brussels Times) The Brussels-West police zone stopped a protest against a so-called “witch” in the municipality of Molenbeek, after a group of people came together to denounce his use of black magic. Approximately 30 people gathered in front of the practice of […]
(Brussels Times) Two mosques in Antwerp are filing a complaint against the far-right Vlaams Belang political party and its chairman Tom Van Grieken for spreading images on social media which they feel incite hatred and discrimination. The Al Aqsa Mosque and the […]
(Brussels Times) On Sunday afternoon, Brussels students under the name of #HijabisFightBack gathered at the Mont des Arts for a demonstration against the headscarf ban at a Brussels university college. The demonstration is a consequence of the decision of the Constitutional Court […]
(Brussels Times) Over ten universities and university colleges in Belgium reaffirmed they will not impose a headscarf ban in class, despite the Constitutional Court recently ruling … that such a ban is allowed in higher education. At the start of June, the […]
(Brussels Times) As … Ramadan, the month in which many Muslims traditionally fast, is approaching, the Brussels municipality of Molenbeek has adapted its usual Ramadan measures to the lockdown ones because of the new coronavirus (Covid-19). “Our municipality has a large Muslim […]
(Brussels Times) Since the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels, many garbage containers with compartments for sorting have been replaced by single bags for residual waste at STIB stations. “Just now that sorting is so high on the agenda, STIB does not […]
(Brussels Times) The Executive of the Muslims of Belgium (EMB) has submitted a request for the recognition of the Great Mosque of Brussels, according to the department of Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort. Currently, there are 21 recognised mosques in the Brussels Region, […]
(Brussels Times) The Belgian state will already have to pay €100,000 to ten children of IS terrorists, as they did not provide them with assistance to get back to Belgium. The government has received its first bill, via a bailiff, on Tuesday. […]
(Brussels Times) The Belgian state has seven more days to provide consular assistance to ten children of Begian IS terrorists to help them return to Belgium, before it will have to pay a €50,000 penalty per day it does not. Belgium has […]
(Brussels Times) On Monday afternoon, four more children of Belgian IS women will arrive at Brussels Airport Zaventem. The children are two 7-year-old boys and two 5-year-old boys, who are the eldest children of Tatiana Wielandt (27) and her sister-in-law Bouchra Abouallal […]
(Brussels Times) The Court of Appeal in Antwerp has ruled that a ban on wearing headscarves in two schools in the municipality of Maasmechelen in the Limburg province is justified, on Tuesday. With its decision, the Antwerp court overturns an earlier decision […]
(Brussels Times) The Brussels correctional court has sentenced two widows of members of the Islamic State terrorist organisation to four years and 40 months in prison. On Wednesday, a Brussels judge in summary proceedings ruled that the Belgian state had to provide […]
(Brussels Times) Turkey has sent the first two Belgian IS women, Fatima (24) and Rahma (31) Benmezian, to Belgium by plane on Friday. When the plane lands at Brussels Airport Zaventem on Friday evening, the two sisters will immediately be arrested and […]
(Brussels Times) Since the Turkish invasion of Syria, nine Belgian women have managed to escape from the Kurdish camps where they were imprisoned, and some are trying to get back to Belgium. Nine Belgian women affiliated with the terrorist group Islamic State […]
(Brussels Times) Four terrorist suspects have seen their pre-trial detention extended as part of the investigation into the 2015 Paris attacks, federal prosecutors announced on Thursday. In the context of the investigation related to the attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015, […]
(Brussels Times) The new Flemish coalition agreement that was presented on Tuesday called for ideological neutrality in schools, banning headscarves and other religious symbols. “In education, we warrant neutrality. In provincial and community education, we ensure the philosophical neutrality for teachers and […]
(Brussels Times) Several members of the Francophone environmentalist party, Ecolo, have distributed unapproved flyers in Laeken with political stances on wearing a headscarf in public administration and at school, and for un-anaesthetised slaughter. “Should the headscarf be allowed in the counter? Yes. […]
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