Nemmouche trial suspended after juror speaks out of court
The trial of two suspects held responsible for the murderous attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels in 2014 is at a standstill. Serious issues have surfaced in connection with one of the jurors. The juror needs to be questioned by the police says the judge. Only then can the trial continue.
The trial of Mehdi Nemmouche and a second suspect before the Brussels court of assizes has been suspended for an undetermined period of time.
The trial was supposed to resume at 9AM this morning, but was delayed for two hours after it emerged that a juror had told the police that he had met somebody involved in the trial during a break last week and that the trial had been discussed. This is against all guidelines. When the trial resumed the juror was removed. The trial judge also asked for the juror to be interviewed by police to find out what exactly he said and to whom. Until this has happened the trial simply cannot continue. How long it will take before the trial can resume is unclear. Implications for the rest of the trial process remain unclear.