In a specially built security room, in NATO’s old headquarters, the trial began on Monday against ten people suspected of involvement in the terrorist attacks in Brussels in March 2016.
One of them is the Swedish Osama Krayem, who during the first day defied the president of the court by refusing to state either his name, age or profession – unlike the others.
The trial is expected to last more than six months, as there are hundreds of plaintiffs.
Many of the injured – and relatives of the dead – were present on Monday.
– I was in the subway when the bomb detonated and I suffered hearing damage. I lost my hearing and now have a hearing aid, says Christelle Giovannetti.
“Made me less stressed”
The terrorist attack killed 30 and injured around 900. The explosion at the Maelbeek station followed the explosions that turned the Brussels airport into an inferno.
– Being in the same room as them, not directly in front of them, but so that I saw them has made me look at it a little differently, I am less stressed, says survivor Sylvie Ingels.
Several of the suspects have already been convicted of involvement in the terrorist attacks in Paris, four months before the Brussels attack.
The ten are charged with, among other things, murder, attempted murder and participation in terrorist crimes. The maximum penalty is 30 years in prison.