Bruges court gives recognised refugee twelve years over a nail bomb defused in Iraq two decades ago
A fingerprint on adhesive tape led investigators to a Koksijde resident, who maintains his innocence and is appealing.
The Bruges criminal court on Monday sentenced a 41-year-old man from Koksijde to twelve years in prison, VRT NWS and Lokaal Nieuws reported. He was found guilty of attempted terrorist murder in Baghdad and of membership of a terrorist group that later merged into Al Qaeda. He also loses certain civil rights for ten years. The federal prosecutor's office had asked for the same sentence. The court did not order his immediate arrest.
On 12 December 2005, American soldiers found a remotely detonated explosive hidden among rubbish in a Baghdad neighbourhood and made it safe. The device contained about five kilos of explosives and nails. According to the investigation, anyone within five metres would have been killed. A fingerprint on the inside of the tape was later linked to the man. He came to Belgium in 2015, was recognised as a political refugee and works for the parks department in Veurne. He was arrested in 2021 and has been free under conditions since 2023. Phone and internet taps in Belgium produced nothing.
The defence sought an acquittal and disputed the Bruges court's jurisdiction. Lawyer Nadia Lorenzetti argued that the American and Iraqi evidence cannot be checked and that witnesses have died or cannot be found. The court acknowledged that the events are more than twenty years old, but found a prison term necessary given their seriousness. The man is appealing, so the case will go before the Ghent court of appeal.