The four terror suspects – three men and a woman – who were arrested in the Belgian cities of Antwerp, Brussels and Eupen last week for allegedly planning an attack against Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever will remain in custody, the Antwerp council chamber decided on Monday.
The suspects were arrested following various house searches at the request of the Antwerp public prosecutor's office. Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne then indicated that they pinged the radar of the security services through social media.
The group, which the Federal Public Prosecutor's office has since confirmed consisted of radicalised youths, had plans to commit an attack with firearms, possibly against police stations and/or against De Wever, who is also the leader of the Flemish separatist rightwing N-VA party.
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Christian Clement, the lawyer of the main suspect, acknowledged that his client had indeed become radicalised, but also said that the Federal Prosecutor's Office relied on indications in the file to make "roaring statements" to the press, VRT reports.
"Did my client try to kill a mayor – Bart De Wever or someone else? No," he said. "This is an impressionable young man who, like so many adolescents, is looking for his own identity, his own self, and has ended up on the wrong channels with wrong or wrong figures."
