8 men are convicted in 2016 terrorist bombings in Brussels
BRUSSELS — Eight men were found guilty Tuesday of having organized a series of bombings in Brussels in March 2016 that amounted to the deadliest terrorist assault in Belgium’s history.
The attacks — which were claimed by the same Islamic State cell that took responsibility for a string of terrorist attacks in Paris the previous year — killed 35 people, injured hundreds more and left Belgium and wider Europe with deep wounds and acute questions about the place of Islam in the continent’s largely secular societies.
The verdict capped an eight-month trial, the largest ever organized in Belgium, with testimony from almost 1,000 registered survivors, witnesses and experts. Eight of the men standing trial were charged with murder and attempted murder in a terrorist context, and one was charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group.
The jury pronounced six men guilty of murder and attempted murder. Two were acquitted on murder charges but were found guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist group. Two brothers, Ibrahim Farisi and Smail Farisi were acquitted.
The six found guilty of murder or attempted murder Tuesday face sentences of up to life in prison. The verdict cannot be appealed.
Six of the 10 accused had been handed various sentences in last year’s trial in Paris over the terrorist attacks in the French capital.
© 2023 The New York Times Company
