The two defendants Salah Abdeslam and Bilal El Makhoukhi refused to appear in court on Tuesday morning in Brussels in the trial for the March 2016 attacks in the Belgian capital, the President of the Brussels Court of Assizes Laurence Massart said at the start of the hearing.
To force detained defendants to attend their trial, the police are authorised to use force – “but not violence”, said Massart. However, to make them attend today, the police would reportedly be needed in this case to use “brute force” – which the authorities claim they wanted to avoid.
Today's events follow the complaint from last Thursday by the defendant Ali El Haddad Asufi, who accused the Belgian police of using violence against him. The defendant claims that he had been strangled in his cell by a police officer during his transfer from Haren prison to the Justitia building last week.
“I have asked to use psychology, explaining to the defendants that this is their trial” and that it is therefore in their interest to appear, the President of the Court of Assizes explained on Tuesday morning.
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“The psychology obviously did not work,” she said. She asked for a report to be drawn up. Laurence Massart also said that no medical certificate had been received regarding Salah Abdeslam’s absence on Monday, given that the accused was suffering from a sore throat.
Le Soir also reported that, after giving legal explanations to the jurors, Laurence Massart asked the other detained defendants - Mohamed Abrini, Osama Krayem, Sofien Ayari, Ali El Haddad Asufi and Hervé Bayingana Muhirwa - if they wished to attend the proceedings, which they refused.
The president of the trial court then suspended the hearing at around 9.50am, as Bilal El Makhoukhi was not represented by a lawyer.
