The first hearing in 2023 of the 22 March 2016 terror attacks in Brussels was suspended on Tuesday after the defendants protested, via their lawyers, that they had been subjected to strip searches accompanied by genuflection, despite the interim judge's order prohibiting the systematic use of such searches.
At the request of the defence, the hearing began at around 09:20 with the court president's Laurence Massart of the summary order pronounced on 29 December that prohibited strip searches accompanied by genuflection. Only four out of seven detained defendants were present in the box, as Salah Abdeslam, Bilal El Makhoukhi and Ali El Haddad Asufi refused to be present.
The proceedings became heated after the reading when lawyers for the three absent defendants explained that, while their clients wished to appear in court, they had declined to come after being forced to submit to a strip search. Counsel for the detained defendants who were present said that their clients had also had to undergo a strip search.
The refusal to appear in court threatens the proceedings, as the trial cannot continue if an accused is not present or represented.
On Tuesday morning, several defence lawyers announced before the Brussels court of Assizes that they risked not having the mandate to represent their clients, as some detained defendants do not wish to appear at their trial until the order on their transfer conditions is respected, Le Soir reports.
Since the start of the trial, the six accused men (Mohamed Abrini, Sofien Ayari, Salah Abdeslam, Bilal El Makhouki, Ali El Haddad Asufi and Hervé Bayingana Muhirwa) have been complaining about the conditions in which they are transferred daily from prison to the courthouse in the Brussels district of Haren.
Specifically, it concerned the regular strip searches they have to undergo, as well as the blindfolds and headphones with loud music they have to put on while being transported, Belga News Agency reports.
'Victims want to move forward'
Now, Abrini's lawyer, Laura Pinilla, announced that she will likely no longer have the mandate to represent her client, who was present at the hearing on Tuesday morning but did not want to remain there. Jonathan De Taye, legal counsel for El Haddad Asufi, added that if the decision of the interim judge is not respected, he will no longer represent his client, who was not present at the hearing. Abdeslam and El Makhoukhi also refused to appear.
Several weeks ago, the interim judge ordered the Belgian State to stop the systematic strip searches of the detained defendants, but the legal counsel for El Haddad Asufi, Abdeslam and El Makhoukhi stated that the order is not being carried out.
In the meantime, several lawyers for the victims have expressed their desire for the trial to continue. "The rights of all must be respected. The rights of the accused must obviously also be respected, but everyone will understand that the victims want to move forward," said lawyer Alexandre Wilmotte. "If some of the defendants are not represented, the court can take measures to ensure that the trial goes ahead anyway."
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For Aline Fery, one of the lawyers of the international Life4Brussels association working for the victims of the attacks, the victims' request to move forward is clear. "There are victims or relatives of victims who have come here especially. It is [now past 11:00 and we are still discussing the conditions of the transfer," she said.
The public prosecutor's office added that it is indeed in the interest of this trial to go ahead and "possibly ask the Belgian State for explanations to see if the justification exists" and if Article 3 of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is respected.
