The Belgian Minister of Justice resigns upon learning that Belgium refused to extradite the Tunisian who attacked on Monday

2023-10-20 21:33:50

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File – The Minister of Justice of Belgium, Vincent Van Quickenborne – JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE / BELGA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO

BRUSELAS, 20 (EUROPA PRESS)

The Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, presented his resignation this Friday due to the chain of errors that allowed the terrorist who murdered two Swedish fans in Brussels on Monday to remain in Belgium despite the fact that Tunisia requested more than a year ago his extradition.

“It is an individual error, a monumental error, an unacceptable error. An error with dramatic consequences,” Van Quickenborne declared in a press conference to explain the reasons for his resignation and defend that the independence of a judge is “the basis of rule of law” and therefore cannot “in any case, interfere in the decisions of a magistrate.”

However, the minister continued, although the magistrate’s work is “individual and independent” it is he as head of Justice who must “assume responsibility for this unacceptable error.”

“I am not looking for any pretext at all, I am not looking for any excuse. I think it is my duty to do so, the information that comes from the Prosecutor’s Office moves me because I have done everything possible to improve justice,” said the Flemish politician.

As explained by Van Quickenborne in his appearance, the Tunisian authorities requested on August 15, 2022 the extradition of Abdesalem L., a Tunisian citizen residing irregularly in Belgium who last Monday murdered two Swedish fans with an assault rifle in Brussels and He injured a third.

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

The Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander de Croo, wanted to praise the “political courage” of Van Quickenborne in a message spread on social networks, while announcing that on Saturday the Council of Ministers will meet urgently with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the Police to address the situation.

CHAIN ​​OF ERRORS

Van Quickenborne attended the meeting of EU Justice Ministers in Luxembourg early this Friday, but suddenly left the meeting without the reason being revealed, until late this afternoon he explained to the media that he had been 9:00 a.m. on the same day when he learned the details of the file that led him to present his resignation.

Although the definitive information that led him to leave the Justice portfolio was that the extradition request sent by Tunisia was not examined, the fact that the alleged terrorist had been residing irregularly in Brussels for several years has revealed a chain of errors. that question the procedures of the Belgian Intelligence and Police.

After the attack that cost the lives of two people and seriously injured another last Monday in Brussels, the country’s authorities confirmed that the confessed perpetrator of the attack requested asylum in 2019 but the Belgian authorities denied him such protection and decreed his expulsion in October 2020.

However, Abdesalem L. continued to live irregularly in a neighborhood of Brussels where he lived with his wife and daughter and he was never notified of the expulsion order, although he was under the radar of the Belgian security services for trafficking. of people, as it helped irregular migrants to reach the United Kingdom from Belgium and France.

The Belgian police authorities have also confirmed in recent days that they had alerts about the radicalization of this person, but the Government has stressed that he was not booked for acts of violent extremism nor did he appear on the Coordination Body’s risk list. of the Terrorist Threat (OCAM, for its acronym in French).

The assailant, who on Monday confessed to the crime in a video spread online in which he identified himself as a member of the Islamic State, was killed by the Police the morning after the attack.