(Brussels Times) Belgium hasn’t seen any major terrorist attacks since 2016 and Belgium’s Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (CUTA) rates the actual terror threat as two out of four — far lower than previously. Yet this is not to say that the […]
(Brussels Times) More than 35,000 women and girls living in Belgium are estimated to be circumcised or at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM), which is a human rights violation, a recent study has found. At least 200 million girls and women in […]
(Brussels Times) The trial of the 13 November attacks in Paris, France’s worst-ever terror attack, saw the defence on Monday plead for the acquittal of Belgian Yassine Atar. The defence arguments come after nine months of testimony in a longstanding trial, held […]
(Brussels Times) After the liberation of Iraqi and Syrian territories from the self-proclaimed caliphate of the Islamic State (IS), certain European countries have chosen to repatriate the children of IS fighters as well as their mothers — if they possessed European citizenship. […]
(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) European justice ministers have agreed on several measures to step up the EU’s fight against terrorism in the EU, primarily by facilitating the digital information exchange in terrorism cases across borders. The proposals for additional measures are part of “ongoing […]
(Brussels Times) Belgium is looking into whether it can bring back the wives of ISIS fighters from Syria, Het Laatste Nieuws reported. In 2021, six women and ten children were repatriated, but it is not clear how many people will meet the […]
(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) Just one in three terrorist suspects or convicts is effectively followed up by courts in Flanders as judges rarely impose deradicalisation counselling as a condition after the end of the sentence. Since 2018, 102 terrorism convicts have been released after […]
(Brussels Times) The prosecution on Friday requested prison sentences ranging from 1 to 2 years for four accused appearing before the Brussels Correctional Court for their supporting roles in the 2015 terror attacks in Paris. The prosecution called for a suspended sentence […]
(Brussels Times) Six years ago, it felt like extremist terrorism would haunt us permanently. The March 2016 bombs in the Brussels metro and airport left 35 people dead. They came after the November 2015 attacks in Paris that killed 138. Jihadists claimed […]
(Brussels Times) The Comité R responsible to monitor Belgium’s various police, security and intelligence agencies published its report earlier in the week outlining a series of recommendations to improve the surveillance of the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in Belgium. The main […]
(Brussels Times) Belgium paid tribute on Tuesday to victims of terrorist attacks, including those lost during the attacks that rocked the country six years ago in Brussels and Zaventem. On 22 March 2016, a double attack took place in Belgium, first at […]
(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) On Wednesday, the Antwerp Court of Appeal ruled that a banner reading “Stop Islamisation” is not racist, as the court could not establish that it was motivated by “racism and xenophobia.” The judgement was in line with a decision of […]
(Brussels Times) Thirteen suspected members of a terrorist group were arrested in a major police operation in Antwerp on Tuesday morning. The suspects were alleged to have distributed jihadist propaganda, De Standaard reports. Nearly 100 investigators of the federal judicial police raided […]
(Brussels Times) About 500 people demonstrated on Saturday afternoon in Sint-Laureins, East Flanders, against a plan to set up a centre for asylum seekers in the Godshuis, a former monastery that has been empty for many years, Belga news agency reports. The […]
(Brussels Times) The deportation of a Moroccan national accused of spreading hate propaganda and being a “threat to Belgian society” is being blocked by the Council for Immigration Disputes. Analysis from OCAD (the Belgian intelligence body) and State Security describe Abdallah Ouahbour […]
(Brussels Times) Islamic State (IS) terrorist and former head of Islamic radical group Sharia4Belgium, Hicham Chaib, was sentenced to life in prison in absentia and has been stripped of his Belgian nationality. After one hour of deliberation by the Antwerp Assize Court — […]
(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) Justice minister Vincent Van Quickenborne has ordered the civilian intelligence service to investigate the affairs of the Muslim Executive, the body that represents the country’s Muslims. Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) revealed his plans on last night’s broadcast of the investigative […]
(Brussels Times) In a ruling on Thursday, the Belgian Constitutional Court supported the judgment of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) last December on banning animal slaughter without stunning. The ruling follows a request from the Belgian court to CJEU for clarification […]
(Brussels Times) On Monday, the Actiris unemployment office suspended a job offer from an elementary school in the Brussels municipality of Etterbeek that stated that “wearing a headscarf is forbidden.” The Sainte-Geneviève Catholic elementary school posted a job offer, looking for someone […]
(Brussels Times) The bank accounts of 295 terrorists are currently frozen in Belgium in an effort to prevent them from (aiding in) committing an attack. During 2021, 21 measures were taken to freeze assets, based on figures from the Coordination Office for […]
(Brussels Times) Security services have informed the Belgian prison system about a right-wing extremist staff member and another with radical Islamic tendencies. Criminal proceedings have been started against both, according to reporting from Belga News Agency. Belgium’s federal Minister of Justice Vincent […]
(Brussels Times) The Belgian Francophone broadcaster RTBF found recordings of an interview with terrorist Salah Abdeslam and two of his accomplices, immediately after the terror attacks in Paris, in its archives. On 14 November 2015, the morning after the terror attacks in […]
(Brussels Times) The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan is not expected to lead to an increased risk of terrorist acts in Belgium in the short term, experts said on Monday. The risk is also limited in the longer term, as the Taliban will […]
(Brussels Times) Sam Van Rooy, a Vlaams Belang member of the Flemish parliament, is the subject of 1,777 complaints made to Unia, the official agency against discrimination. The complaints were orchestrated by the Facebook group Allemaal Van Belang, who accused Van Rooy […]
(Brussels Times) The police in Belgium have a shortage of ammunition for their anti-terrorist weapons (SCAR machine guns) that were purchased after the attacks in Zaventem and Brussels. Belgium’s police had concluded a contract with an American company for €1 million for […]
(Brussels Times) This morning a military aircraft landed at Melsbroek airfield outside Brussels, carrying six women and ten children repatriated from a refugee camp in Syria. The women, aged between 25 and 53 years, have been held in the Kurdish-run camp Roj […]
(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 government of Brussels region has decided not to appeal a decision by the public transport authority STIB to stand by a ruling of the labour tribunal in favour of a Muslim woman who was twice turned down for a […]
(Brussels Times) A man who helped the Thalys terrorist Ayoub El Khazzani to make contact with Islamic State in Syria in 2015 has been found guilty but allowed to go free by a court in Brussels. Yazan K., now aged 27, was […]
(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 Brussels public transport operator STIB-MIVB has decided not to appeal a discrimination conviction related to employees wearing headscarves, paving the way for an abolishment of the existing ban on head coverings that signal religious, political or philosophical beliefs. “STIB […]
(Brussels Times) The government yesterday approved spending of €5.9 million on the Brussels justice service, to allow the organisation of the trial of the alleged terrorists involved in the 2016 terror attacks at Brussels Airport and the city metro. On 22 March […]
(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 Federal Prosecutor’s Office is sticking to its initial submissions regarding the suspects charged with involvement in the 2016 Brussels attacks that left 32 people dead, spokesman Eric Van der Sypt said on Sunday. Confirming information carried by La Dernière […]
(Brussels Times) Belgium is being taken to court by 19 victims of the terror attacks on Brussels Airport and Maelbeek metro station on 22 March 2016. “We accuse the government of a lack of information, a lack of help and inadequate legislation,” […]
(Brussels Times) Next Monday, 22 March, sees the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks at Brussels Airport and on the Brussels metro at Maelbeek. But even five years after that shock, the country’s intelligence and security services are unable to work together […]
(Brussels Times) Two brothers who took part in the suicide bombings at Brussels Airport and Maelbeek metro in 2016 first carried out a random murder just to see what killing a human being would be like, according to investigation details revealed by […]
(Brussels Times) A lawyer who survived the terrorist attack in Brussels on 22 March 2016 is taking the Belgian government to court for its mishandling of the aftermath of the incident and its treatment of the victims. The man, Nic Reynaert, is […]
(Brussels Times) Jihadist Nora Verhoeven and several other Belgian women and children have reportedly gone missing from the Syrian Al-Hol prison camp, according to a psychologist involved in the possible repatriation of the group. Two doctors and two psychologists had planned to […]
(Brussels Times) Federal defence minister Ludivine Dedonder (PS) has issued a formal refusal to consider a proposal from two N-VA MPs suggesting military personnel on street patrol be given more powers. The proposal comes from Theo Francken, formerly secretary of state for […]
(Brussels Times) Around 15,000 women in Belgium have been reported as victims of genital mutilation (FGM) and another 8,000 girls are still at risk, the Centre for Secular Action said on Friday, the eve of International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female […]
(Brussels Times) Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, who has been convicted for his role in a foiled terrorist attack, was given a 20-year prison sentence by the criminal court in Antwerp on Thursday. The Vienna-based official plotted to bomb a rally of the […]
(Brussels Times) Ten of the thirteen suspects of the Brussels attacks of 22 March 2016 will be referred to the Court of Assizes, the Council Chamber of Brussels decided. The Court of Assizes deals with the most serious crimes. In this case, […]
(Brussels Times) The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg has upheld a ban by the Flemish government on animal slaughter without prior stunning. The court was responding to a request from Belgium’s Constitutional Court for a ruling on a point of […]
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