The former Belgian soldier arrested in Norway for making death threats against Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has had his pre-trial detention extended by one month, according to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
Sam H.’s lawyer had requested that he should be placed under electronic surveillance, but this request was rejected by the Brussels Council Chamber on Tuesday. The defence may still decide to appeal against this decision.
On 7 July last, Sam H. posted a video on social networks in which he was seen firing four gunshots at a photo of the Prime Minister. The Limburg Public Prosecutor’s Office, where Sam H. resides, immediately opened an investigation which has since been taken over by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The latter then appointed an investigating judge specialising in terrorism cases. The police were aware that the man suffered from psychological problems and was sympathetic to extreme right-wing ideas. A member of a motorcycle gang, he had already had run-ins with the law in the past.
European Arrest Warrant
The man had been located in Norway and arrested through a European Arrest Warrant, in a shopping centre in Oslo. His home in Leopoldsburg had also been searched by the police, who found no weapons, ammunition or explosives.
Norway handed Sam H. over to the Belgian judicial authorities on Thursday evening. The former soldier was questioned on Friday by the Federal Judicial Police (PJF) and then by an examining magistrate. The latter placed him under arrest warrant for preparing a terrorist offence and threatening to commit a terrorist act.
The suspect appeared before the Council Chamber on Tuesday morning. His defence requested that he be placed under electronic surveillance because, according to laywer Mathias Swevers, the former soldier never intended to carry out an attack against the head of government or anyone else.
