A court in Brussels found six out of ten defendants guilty of “terrorist murder” in connection with the 2016 Brussels attacks, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF, on Tuesday.
Mohamed Abrini, Oussama Atar, Osama Krayem, Salah Abdeslam, Ali El Haddad Asufi, and Bilal El Makhoukhi reportedly all received convictions for terrorist murder.
According to the Brussels court, which found that the crimes had a terrorist motivation, the group scared the Belgian authorities by planning to murder as many people as possible.
According to RTBF, in their respective trials, Hervé Bayingana Muhirwa and Sofien Ayari were also found guilty of assisting a terrorist organisation. It was determined that all six males had done this.
The trial to determine whether 10 individuals were involved in the March 22, 2016, suicide bombings that left dozens of people dead and over 300 injured started last year. According to RTBF, the court determined that four more victims should be added to the list of those murdered in the attacks, increasing the total death toll to 36.
The strikes, in which suicide bombers set off several explosions in the Brussels airport and a metro station, were claimed by ISIS.
In 2022, Abdeslam was also found responsible for a series of deadly bomb and gun attacks that took place in Paris in 2015. Abdeslam was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole by a French court. He is believed to be the only survivor of the squad that carried out the attacks in France.
RTBF reports that Oussama Atar, who was absent from the Brussels trial, is thought to have perished in Syria.
The allegations against brothers Smail and Ibrahim Farisi for participating in terrorist organisation operations were reportedly withdrawn against both of them, according to RTBF. The two brothers were consequently cleared of all charges brought against them.
The largest trial ever held in Belgium came to a close on Tuesday with the decision, according to Reuters, which involved testimony from over 370 witnesses and experts.
Belgian foreign fighters have travelled to Syria and Iraq in greater numbers per capita than citizens of any other country in the European Union, and this was a concern for counterterrorism officials when the attacks occurred in 2016.