Seven women and five men were selected on Tuesday afternoon to form the jury for the trial of Abdellatif Belarbi at the West Flanders Assizes.
Belarbi, a barber of Moroccan origin, is accused of murdering Alban Demora in De Panne in September 2020. His defence is scheduled to reiterate a request to move the trial to a French-speaking court, as Belarbi is Francophone.
Demora's body was found on 3 September 2020 by a passer-by. Belarbi was arrested at the scene, in his hairdressing salon.
Belarbi maintains Demora attacked him that night and that he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed Demora multiple times. The exact reasons for the altercation remain unknown.
On 14 March 2023, the Ghent Indictments Chamber decided to send Belarbi to the Western Flanders Assizes to stand trial for murder. At the preliminary hearing on 24 November, the defence requested a move to a French-speaking court, arguing that Belarbi is a French-speaker. The court’s president declared himself unable to decide on the issue at a preliminary hearing.
The defence intends to raise the issue once more on Friday.
Some 70 witnesses are scheduled to testify during the case, which is to last about a dozen days.
