The Brussels Court of Appeal has confirmed that Nizar Trabelsi must be released from detention, following an earlier ruling by the Brussels council chamber.
Trabelsi, a former professional footballer from Tunisia, was arrested in Belgium in September 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks in the United States. He was accused of planning an attack on the Kleine-Brogel airbase and sentenced to ten years in prison, which he served in full.
After completing his sentence, Trabelsi was extradited to the United States to face new charges for the same alleged acts. In 2023, however, a US court acquitted him of those charges. Since then, he has attempted multiple times to return to Belgium, but each attempt was denied.
Belgian authorities faced repeated criticism from both the Belgian Court of Appeal and the European Court of Human Rights for their refusal to allow Trabelsi’s return. Despite these rulings, no action was taken for years.
On 8 August, Trabelsi was finally extradited back to Belgium. Upon his arrival, the Belgian Immigration Office immediately issued an order for his expulsion and detained him at the closed centre for undocumented migrants in Merksplas. However, on 22 August, the Council for Alien Disputes annulled the expulsion order, leading the Brussels council chamber to call for his release.
The Belgian government appealed this decision to the Brussels Court of Appeal, which has now upheld the ruling for his release.
“This should mark the end of his ordeal,” said Trabelsi’s lawyers, Julien Hardy and Marie Hennico. “It is time for him to be reunited with his family and receive the care he needs.”
