Five young Brussels inhabitants, arrested and imprisoned for four days last September in Turkey, where they were spending their holidays, plan to lodge a complaint for inhuman and degrading treatment, their attorney, Mr. Vincent Lurquin, indicated on Monday. Mr. Lurquin specifies that he will act as a civil party so as to throw full light on the arrest, based on suspicion of jihadism, to which his clients were subjected.
“My clients are five young people; they are unknown to justice, all in their twenties, and they do have a job. Last September, they traveled to Turkey for a holiday, and they stayed in a hotel where one of them had already sojourned. About fifteen plain-clothed police officers arrived on the fifth day of their stay, mentioning problems with their passports, and pursuing with a search of the hotel room. They made the observation that these passports were not a problem, and yet they interrogated my clients about the Islamic State, and imprisoned them for four days, explaining to them that Belgium had requested judicial cooperation,” Mr. Lurquin said in detail.
The attorney stresses the fact that his clients were again arrested upon release from prison “on request of Belgian authorities who demanded their expulsion.” “We learned that an inquiry had been launched before their departure by Brussels Prosecution Office, but we do not know why. We also know that before their arrest, police had made an inquiry at the Brussels travel agency through which they had made their reservations. To this day, my clients do not know why they were arrested and imprisoned. The Belgian judiciary authorities owe them an explanation, for suspicion of terrorism could weigh heavily on their future,” Mr. Lurquin concluded.
According to RTBF, Brussels prosecutor said to have opened a file after the departure, in dubious conditions, of five young Brussels inhabitants for Turkey. The inquiry being still ongoing, Brussels prosecutor had not launched a request for arrest, nor sent any information to Turkish authorities. Contacted by Belga Agency, the Brussels prosecutor has not yet reacted to this information.
The Brussels Times
