The start of the ‘Sky ECC' mega-trial was set for 29 September at a preliminary hearing held on Monday in Namur’s new courthouse. The trial is scheduled to last two weeks.
Some 20 lawyers and 15 defendants attended the introductory hearing. Fifty-eight defendants were summoned, but one passed away on Friday, while others are still in Albania.
Judge Romain Jadin decided that the trial would proceed in a single session. The introductory hearing is expected to last two days, and one day has been set aside for the indictment. There are two civil parties, including Ores, from which electricity was stolen. The utility has been given 30 minutes to present its case.
Lawyers were consulted to determine the trial’s opening date, with the majority decision prevailing.
Some defence lawyers will be handling various ‘Sky ECC’ cases when the judicial session resumes. One of these will be held over a two-week period in Charleroi, while another will be held in Termonde. A two-month-long one is to be held in Brussels.
The ‘Sky ECC’ trial was named after an encrypted messaging service popular among drug traffickers that was cracked by investigators in 2021, uncovering a huge criminal network in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The charges include cannabis cultivation and sale, weapons possession, electricity theft, money laundering, and criminal conspiracy.
