The man suspected of throwing acid over a cleaner in an Antwerp Delhaize store on February 20th is expected back in Belgium soon. The man appeared in front of the grand jury in Paris on Wednesday and did not oppose his handing over to Belgian authorities, announced the Brussels prosecutor on Thursday. The prosecutor did not however confirm the identity of the suspect revealed by several media. It is allegedly 42-year-old Flemish jurist Jelle F. from Amsterdam. At the end of October 2014, Jelle F. allegedly moved away from Amsterdam where he worked as office clerk for a shipyard, to settle in Barcelona. Belgian investigators believe, however, that he never made it to Barcelona and instead, travelled around Belgium and committed the acid attack at the Delhaize supermarket in Antwerp.
During the attack, a 52-year-old cleaning lady had acid thrown over her. The victim suffered sever burns and internal injuries. She was taken to hospital and put in a coma, which she is now out of.
A man who had been extorting Delhaize for months claimed responsibility for the attack on the same day. Last December, the supermarket chain received several emails threatening acid attacks on its clientele. These emails were also sent the the Belga press agency. It appears Delhaize paid nearly 40,000 euros, both before and after February's acid attack into bank accounts which had anonymous French prepaid credit cards belonging to the extortionist attached to them.
(Source: Belga)
