Surprising turn of events at Brussels terror trial as prosecution requests defendant’s acquittal
At the trial of those accused of having carried out the 2016 terrorist attacks at Zaventem airport and on the Brussels metro, the prosecution has requested that one of the defendants be acquitted due to lack of evidence. Another defendant has had some of the charges brought against him dropped.
The prosecution ended it pleas on Tuesday with evidence against against two brothers Smail and Ibrahim Farisi. Smail Farisi was on trial for subletting his apartment in Etterbeek to one of the suicide bombers, Ibrahim El Bakraoui.
Mr Smail was also accused of having cleaned the flat together with his brother Ibrahim after the attack. The Federal Judicial Authorities believed this to be grounds to charge Smail Farisi with being a member of a terrorist group and complicity in the attacks. Ibrahim Farisi was on trial for membership of a terrorist group.
As the trial progressed, it became clear to prosecutors that the evidence against the brothers was less conclusive than it had initially seemed. The Federal Prosecutor's Office is therefore now requesting Ibrahim Farisi’s full acquittal. "There is no conclusive evidence that he was aware that terrorists had been staying in the flat that he and his brother were cleaning," prosecutor Paule Somers said in her plea.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has also dropped some of the charges against Smail Farisi. Prosecutor Bernard Michel said that "It is clear that he knew that his flat was being used by a terrorist group. Perhaps not immediately when he sublet it, in October 2015, but it must have become clear to him in the following months".
"It would have been clear to any normal, intelligent person what was going on. That is why we are requesting that he be convicted of membership of a terrorist group. However, it has not been proven that he knew that group was about to carry out an attack. Therefore, we seek acquittal on the charges of complicity in terrorist murder and for complicity in attempted terrorist murder."
Barrister Nina Van Eeckhaut, who represents a victim's widow at the trial, says that the prosecutors’ request makes sense: "I think they are being intellectually honest and also showing the jury that they don't necessarily want the skin of every accused. They have listened to what the police and the other witnesses have said here during the past few months and have concluded that there is insufficient evidence."
This brought a surprising end to the prosecution’s plea. For the 8 others accused the charges of membership of a terrorist group and for being a co-perpetrator in the attacks still stand. They risk sentences of life imprisonment. The trial still has some way to go and a verdict is not expected until next month.