Belgian minister resigns after failing to extradite Tunisian Islamist who killed two Swedes

2023-10-20 23:54:00

The police during the operation that ended with the Tunisian citizen dead/ Photo: AFP
The Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, presented his resignation this Friday as a result of the error chain which allowed the Tunisian who murdered two Swedish fans in Brussels on Monday of this week to remain in the country, despite the fact that Tunisia had requested his extradition more than a year ago.

“It’s a individual, monumental and unacceptable failure. “A mistake with dramatic consequences,” declared Van Quickenborne at a press conference to explain the reasons for his resignation, which was accepted by Prime Minister Alexander de Croo.

As explained by Van Quickenborne, the Tunisian authorities requested on August 15, 2022 the extradition of Abdesalem Lassoued, a Tunisian citizen residing irregularly in Belgium who last Monday murdered two Swedish fans in Brussels with an assault rifle and injured a third. reported the Europa Press news agency.

Thus, the extradition request was transferred on September 1 to the Brussels Prosecutor’s Office. but the magistrate in charge “did not follow up“and the file “was not dealt with,” reported the already resigned minister.

Last Tuesday, the Tunisian was killed by the police.

Agents opened fire on Lassoued, who was “neutralized” after an entire night of intense searches throughout the capital of Belgium, the Police reported in a statement.

Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said on the social network X (formerly Twitter) that “the perpetrator of the terrorist attack in Brussels has been identified and has died.”