16 persons related to a terror cell in Verviers will be prosecuted on 15 April at the criminal court in Brussels. Among them are seven men whose identity was already known and of which four are still in preventive custody.
The Verviers cell was dismantled on 15 January when special units of the Belgian police carried out a raid at rue de la Colline in Verviers. Two suspects were in the house, one was shot dead and the other captured.
The raid in Verviers aimed at dismantling a terrorist cell which planned to commit imminent attacks on Belgian territory. Other searches conducted in Brussels resulted in the arrest of a dozen other suspects.
Besides Belgians, there are suspects with French, Dutch and Moroccan nationality. An Algerian was arrested in Greece.
Three of the defendants are suspected of planning the attacks in Belgium. One of them is also suspected of attempted murder of police officers, according to federal prosecutors.
The federal prosecutor wants the trial be held before the vacation period of the courts while the defense wants it to begin in September.
The Brussels Times (Source: Belga)
