(AP) Abdesalem Lassoued had been denied residency in four European countries by the time he chased two Swedish men into a building in Brussels this week and gunned them down at close range with a semiautomatic rifle. The 45-year-old Tunisian arrived on […]
(AP) The alleged attacker who killed two Swedish soccer fans in Brussels this week before he was shot dead by police was residing in Belgium illegally and should have left the country three years ago, but never did. In a country that […]
(Reuters) The leaders of Belgium and Sweden and the European Union’s chief executive promised on Wednesday to tighten border security and step up repatriations after a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels. They spoke after […]
(Politico) Belgian authorities were well aware of the gunman who caused terror in Brussels — and yet he was still able to shoot two people dead. The attacker — who killed two Swedish football fans on Monday evening — had been on the authorities’ […]
(AP) The killing of two Swedish citizens in an attack ahead of a soccer match in Brussels has shocked the Scandinavian country, although the government has been warning for months that Swedes were at greater risk since a recent string of public […]
(AP) Authorities in the Belgian capital shot and killed a Tunisian national on Tuesday hours after they say he gunned down three Swedish soccer fans, killing two of them, and posted a video online in which he claimed credit for the attack […]
(Reuters) Two Swedish nationals were shot to death and a third person was wounded in central Brussels on Monday night, and a man who identified himself as a member of the Islamic State claimed responsibility in a video posted online. The suspected […]
(Brussels Times) The Antwerp Criminal Court on Tuesday postponed the trial against the “Kruger group” to 24 October. Fifteen radicalized Muslims are on trial in this case for their participation in the activities of a terrorist group. To build up their arsenal, […]
(Brussels Times) Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever says police [are] closely monitoring the “worrying situation” in Israel and “will take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of our Jewish community.” Vigilance in Antwerp’s Jewish quarter had already been raised due to […]
(AFP) The Brussels appeals court on Tuesday halted the Belgian authorities from sending convict Salah Abdeslam to France to continue serving a life term for the 2015 Paris terror attacks. Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the jihadist cell that killed 130 […]
(Brussels Times) Several Islamic institutions that are signatories and members of the Coordination Council of Islamic Institutions in Belgium (CIB) are to launch several petitions for annulment of the education programme on relational, affective and sexual life (EVRAS) with the Constitutional Court, […]
(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 […]
(Anadolu) Organizations representing the Muslim community in Belgium have challenged a law in the Flemish region to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on grounds that it violates freedom of religion and worship. According to a statement by the Belgian Religious […]
(Brussels Times) The Constitutional Court on [Wednesday?] annulled several provisions of a Flemish decree banning local religious communities from receiving funding or support from abroad, a measure aimed primarily at mosques. The decree of 22 October 2021 regulating the recognition of local […]
(Brussels Times) Victims of the jihadist attacks that left 35 dead and hundreds injured in Brussels on 22 March 2016 want to meet the convicted culprits to get answers to questions left pending at the end of their trial. “Around ten victims […]
(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. […]
(AFP) A Belgian court on Friday handed out sentences ranging up to life in prison to eight men for the 2016 jihadist bombings in Brussels, ending the country’s largest-ever criminal trial. The suicide bombings on March 22, 2016, at Brussels’ main airport […]
(National-UAE) A Belgian court on Wednesday rejected French terrorist Salah Abdeslam’s request not to be extradited to France, saying that his claim that it would be a breach of his human rights was not “sufficiently substantiated.” Abdeslam, 33, was transferred to Belgium […]
(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 […]
(National-UAE) Terrorists found guilty of the Brussels attacks in which 32 people were killed expressed regret for their actions in court on Monday. The suicide attacks in the Belgian capital’s main airport and metro system on March 22, 2016, were claimed by […]
(Brussels Times) Salah Abdeslam insisted on Monday that he was unfairly tried and a victim of the media during his final remarks to the court in charge of trying the men accused of the 22 March 2016 terror attacks in Brussels. Abdeslam, […]
(Brussels Times) Saliha Raiss (Vooruit) was sworn in as a member of the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean municipal council on Wednesday. Her candidacy, approved by secret ballot, received the support of 20 councillors while 16 voted against. One vote was declared invalid. Mrs Raiss will […]
(Anadolu) The Muslim community in Belgium contested new sexual education methods in schools on Wednesday, according to a statement. “This decision seems to confront the universal and inviolable values of the familial education framework, and the interests of the students and their […]
(Brussels Times) The local council of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean will hold an extraordinary meeting on 6 September to vote on the candidature of new Vooruit councillor Saliha Raiss, Mayor Catherine Moureaux (PS) said on Tuesday. Raiss’s nomination has gathered the necessary 23 signatures — […]
(National-UAE) A Belgian prosecutor on Tuesday asked a jury to sentence French terrorist Salah Abdeslam to life in prison for his role in ISIS-claimed suicide attacks against Brussels that killed 35 people and wounded hundreds. “After terrorising France, he decided to continue […]
(Brussels Times) Improvised prayer rooms in universities have become the subject of discussion after an opinion piece by Nadia Geerts of the Francophone liberal MR party denounced the existence of these so-called “clandestine” areas at ULB University. For several years, a place […]
(National-UAE) French terrorist Salah Abdeslam, 33, told a Belgian court on Monday that his upcoming transfer to France would violate his human rights. “My future is in Belgium. Sending me back to France is like sending me to my death,” said Abdeslam, […]
(Brussels Times) The trial of the 22 March 2016 terror attacks, adjourned on 25 July after the guilty verdict, resumed on Monday morning for the closing arguments. The terror attacks trial began at the Justitia in Haren last December and at the […]
(Brussels Times) Salah Abdeslam (33), who faces a life sentence for his part in the March 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels, does not want to return to France after the trial and instead wants to serve his sentence in a Belgian prison, […]
(Brussels Times) The greatest threat of terrorism continues to come from individuals inspired by Islamist extremism, often referred to as jihadism ideology. However, violence from right-wing extremists can also not be ruled out. Last year, there were 215 threat reports related to […]
(AFP) A Brussels court on Tuesday convicted French citizen Salah Abdeslam and Belgian-Moroccan Mohamed Abrini for 2016 jihadist bombings in the Belgian capital that killed 32 people, after the country’s largest-ever criminal trial. The high-profile pair — already sentenced to life in […]
(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 […]
(European Conservative) Approximately 200 Muslim protestors gathered outside the European Parliament Wednesday, July 19th, as Islamic groups in Brussels rallied against the controversial burning of the Quran in Sweden. Shouts of “Allahu Akbar” were heard right outside the Parliament as an almost […]
(Anadolu) Belgium’s top court has issued a decision opening the way for Muslim imams in the country’s Flemish region to get salaries from abroad and similar arrangements. In October 2021, a decree was issued in the Flemish region prohibiting direct or indirect […]
(Washington Post) The British man who tried to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami over 20 years ago spoke publicly last month for the first time, testifying under oath in federal court. His arms and legs were shackled as he […]
(NBC) In a rare and shocking development, an accused foreign Islamic terrorist was found not guilty Friday by a jury in federal court after a trial on charges he conspired with Osama bin Laden to conduct a suicide bombing on Americans in […]
(Middle East Eye) Belgium summoned the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ambassador in Brussels on Friday, following reports of the Gulf state’s alleged involvement in a smear campaign that sought to link at least 1,000 individuals in Europe to the Muslim Brotherhood. 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) The defense team of Smail Farisi will present its case in the trial over the 22 March 2016 bombings on Monday. Farisi is accused of providing a hideout to suicide bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui, his brother Khalid, and Osama Krayem […]
(National-UAE) The lawyer of one of the 10 defendants in the trial of an ISIS-claimed double suicide bombing in Brussels in 2016 has made the case that his client is complicit in war crimes. Nicolas Cohen, representing Bilal El [Makhoukhi], argued that […]
(Brussels Times) The Liège Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced a 35-year-old man from Verviers to a suspended sentence of three years’ imprisonment for the remainder of his pre-trial detention and a suspended fine of €4,000 for half. The man was found guilty […]
(Reuters) Belgian foreign affairs minister Hadja Lahbib is facing calls for resignation after granting visas to delegations from Iranian and Russian cities to attend a mayors convention in Brussels last week. Lahbib is under scrutiny for having approved [visa] requests for citizens […]
(Politico) Pascal Smet, foreign affairs minister of the region of Brussels, resigned on Sunday after coming under fire last week for inviting the ultra-conservative mayor of Tehran to the Brussels Urban Summit. “I have decided to resign,” Smet, who is also urban […]
(Brussels Times) A new representative body for Islam in Belgium has been created, with the Muslim Council of Belgium set to come into force this week to replace the scandal-hit Executive of the Muslims of Belgium (EMB). Belgium’s Justice Minister Vincent Van […]
(Brussels Times) State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor announced on Monday that she has asked for the refugee status of a man from Afghanistan to be re-examined due to cases of hate speech. The man — identified by Belga […]
(Brussels Times) Around 2,000 representatives from 600 cities around the world flocked to Brussels today to attend the Brussels Urban Summit 2023. But one participant garnered particular attention. Alireza Zakani, the ultra-conservative mayor of the Iranian capital of Tehran, was spotted among […]
(Brussels Times) The Antwerp Criminal Court on Thursday sentenced Nora Verhoeven, the repatriated widow of an Islamic State (ISIS) fighter, to 48 months in prison, 18 of them suspended. In 2015, the Brussels woman, then 21 years old, was sentenced in absentia […]
(NL Times) The police arrested a 16-year-old boy from Eindhoven on May 4 for planning a terrorist attack in a chat group on Telegram. The boy is still in custody. On Tuesday, the police also arrested a 19-year-old man from Deventer in […]
(Turkish Minute) Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, a dual Turkish-Belgian citizen who in 2009 became the first headscarf-wearing lawmaker in a Belgian parliamentary assembly, was appointed a minister in a new cabinet announced by the Turkish president over the weekend. Özdemir is the only […]
(AFP) Belgium’s prosecutor’s office on Thursday said Salah Abdeslam, a Frenchman convicted of a 2015 jihadist massacre in Paris, should be found guilty as “co-perpetrator” of the 2016 bomb attacks in Brussels. “He knowingly helped the cell” that carried out the attacks […]
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