A 55-year-old café manager accused of shooting dead a 33-year-old man last Thursday in the Brussels district of Koekelberg, appeared on Wednesday before the Brussels council chamber.
The hearing was set to review his remand in custody, but the case was adjourned until 11 September.
The victim, Soufiane El Aroub, had been given a 15-month suspended sentence a few months ago for his involvement in the terror attacks on 13 November 2015 in Paris.
Soufiane had ties with brothers Abdeslam and Mohamed Abrini, and Ahmed Dahmani, believed to be part of the bomb-making team for the Paris attacks. When Dahmani attempted to flee to Syria after the attacks, it was Soufiane who drove him to Schiphol airport in the Netherlands, under the cover of darkness.
In June 2022, the Brussels criminal court handed Soufiane an 18-month custodial sentence. However, he appealed, and his sentence was reduced to a 15-month suspended term.
Last Thursday, at around 10 p.m., Soufiane was shot in a café on Sainte-Anne street, Koekelberg. Despite a prompt response by the police and emergency services, he succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
Investigators identified a suspect, the café’s manager, who was arrested several hours after the incident. Over the past weeks or even months, the victim had allegedly extorted the manager and periodically caused disturbances in his establishment.
Further investigation is expected to shed more light on the exact circumstances surrounding the incident.
