Six years after Belgium’s deadliest peacetime attack, a Brussels court will this week host a landmark trial that survivors hope will mark a step forward in their and their nation’s recovery.
The trial of suspected members of an Islamic State (IS) cell that launched both the March 2016 suicide bombings in Brussels and the November 2015 attacks in Paris will begin on Monday.
The Belgian attacks, in which three suicide bombers hit Brussels airport and a crowded metro station, killed 32 people and destroyed the lives of hundreds of survivors.
Nine suspected jihadists, including the cell’s 32-year-old French leader Salah Abdeslam, face various charges. One believed to have been killed in Syria will be tried in his absence.
The trial will be the largest ever before a Belgian jury, with 960 civil plaintiffs represented and the sprawling former headquarters of the NATO military alliance converted into a high-security court complex.
Abdeslam, already found guilty in France and sentenced to life in prison for his role in Paris, will not attend the preliminary hearing on Monday, his lawyer said.
– ‘turn pages’ –
But many of the victims of the attacks plan to attend the trial from day one to seek understanding and closure after the carnage.
“My life was completely destroyed. I lost my friends, gave up my hobby of piloting,” said Philippe Vandenberghe, an airport manager who rushed to help injured passengers and now has post-traumatic stress disorder.
Vandenberghe had a first aid certificate, but nothing that would have prepared him for the aftermath of a random suicide bombing in a crowded airport concourse.
He faced screaming victims wrapped in thick smoke and surrounded by broken glass and twisted metal.
The image of two children who have just lost their mother haunts him.
“I gave first aid to 18 different people. I’m sure I saved a woman,” the 51-year-old told AFP at his home in Louvain-la-Neuve.
He is now unemployed after a legal battle with his former employer and insurer over medical bills. He paints, helps with charities and is training to be an ambulance driver.
He will appear in court on Monday, hoping the trial will mark the beginning of a new phase in his recovery.
“We hope that our suffering will be recognized, that’s the important part,” he said.
Before the bombings, Sebastien Bellin, now 44, was a professional basketball player. Now, after about 15 surgeries, he is unable to use one of his legs and is still living through the experience.
“I don’t know if you can turn the page, what happened will always exist within us,” he said.
“Personally, I have given up all hate, that would waste the strength I need to build myself up again. I also accepted my handicap,” he said, describing the process as an “important step”.
Some victims and witnesses will not attend the hearings. Police commander Christian De Coninck will follow from home, doubtful the accused will say anything constructive.
“They are not worth my travel time,” he told AFP news agency. “I don’t want to hear them shouting nonsense about their unhappy childhood, the influential imams, the duty to fight for the caliphate.”
Following Monday’s preliminary hearing, the court will reconvene on October 10 to select 12 jurors and 24 potential surrogates. Evidence hearings begin October 13 and last eight months through June next year.
