Issued on: 12/09/2022 – 07:36
Six years after the deadliest peacetime attack in Belgium, a Brussels court will this week organize a historic trial that survivors hope will mark a step forward in their recovery and that of their country.
The case against alleged members of an Islamic State (IS) group cell that launched both the March 2016 suicide bombings in Brussels and the November 2015 attacks in Paris will begin Monday.
The Belgian attacks, in which three suicide bombers hit Brussels airport and a crowded underground metro station, killed 32 people and destroyed hundreds of survivors.
Nine alleged jihadists, including 32-year-old French cell leader Salah Abdeslam, will face several charges. One, believed to have been killed in Syria, will be tried in his absence.
The trial will be the largest ever held before a Belgian jury, with 960 civilian plaintiffs represented and the sprawling former NATO military alliance headquarters converted into a high-security courthouse.
Abdeslam, already convicted in France and sentenced to life in prison for his role in Paris, will not attend Monday’s preliminary hearing, his lawyer said.
‘Turn the page’
But many of the victims of the attacks plan to attend the trial from day one, seeking understanding and closure after the massacre.
“My life was completely destroyed. I lost my friends, gave up my hobby as a pilot,” said Philippe Vandenberghe, an airport manager who rushed to help injured passengers and now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Vandenberghe had a first aid certificate, but nothing to prepare him for the aftermath of a random suicide attack on a busy airport concourse.
He was confronted by screaming victims who were shrouded in thick smoke and surrounded by broken glass and twisted metal.
The image of two children who had just lost their mother haunts him.
“I gave first aid to 18 different people. I’m sure I saved one woman,” the 51-year-old told AFP at his home in Louvain-la-Neuve.
Today he is unemployed, after a legal battle with his former employer and insurer over medical bills. He paints, helps charities and is trained as an ambulance driver.
He will face court on Monday, hoping the trial will mark the beginning of a new phase in his recovery.
“We hope that our suffering is recognized, that’s the most important thing,” he said.
Before the bombings, Sebastien Bellin, now 44, was a professional basketball player. Now, after about 15 surgeries, he has lost the use of one of his legs and is still reliving the experience.
“I don’t know if you can turn the page, what happened will always exist in us,” he said.
“Personally, I’ve given up all hatred that would waste the energy I need to rebuild myself. I’ve also accepted my disability,” he said, describing the process as an “important step.”
Some victims and witnesses will not attend the hearings. Police commander Christian De Coninck follows from home, doubtful whether the suspect will say anything constructive.
“They are not worth my time to make the journey,” he told AFP. “I don’t want them talking nonsense about their unhappy childhood, the influential imams, the duty to fight for the caliphate.”
After Monday’s preliminary hearing, the court will meet again on October 10 to select 12 jurors and 24 potential replacements. Evidence hearings will begin on October 13 and last eight months, until June next year.
(AFP)