BRUSSELS: The trial for the 2016 Brussels attacks, due to start next month, has been delayed for several weeks to replace controversial glass boxes intended for the accused, the court said Friday.
The court of assizes said an October 10 session to select the jury had been canceled after the justice ministry confirmed that a new defendant box requested would not arrive in time.
The delay came after a preliminary hearing earlier this month ended in a huge controversy over the installation of individual transparent cubicles for the defendants.
Defense lawyers argued that they could not freely consult with their clients and requested that the cubicles be removed, which a judge agreed to.
Luc Hennart, a court spokesman, told AFP “there is talk of a postponement of a few weeks” to fix the issue in the courtroom, which was especially built in the former headquarters of the NATO military alliance.
Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne told Flemish public radio on Friday he expected a delay “of weeks rather than months.”
Nine alleged members of the Daesh group cell that launched both the March 2016 suicide bombings in Belgium and the November 2015 attacks in Paris face terrorism charges.
The Belgian attacks, in which three suicide bombers targeted Brussels airport and a crowded underground metro station, killed 32 people and shattered the lives of hundreds of wounded or traumatized survivors.
A tenth suspect, the suspected planner of the terror campaign, is presumed killed and will be tried in absentia.
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Brussels attacks trial delayed over ‘glass box’ bungle
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Brussels attacks trial delayed over ‘glass box’ bungle
- The delay came after a preliminary hearing earlier this month ended in a huge controversy over the installation of individual transparent cubicles
- Defence lawyers argued that they could not freely consult with their clients
UK to deploy aircraft carrier group to Arctic this year: PM
- The HMS Prince of Wales is the Royal Navy’s largest warship
MUNICH, Germany: The UK will deploy its aircraft carrier group to the North Atlantic this year in a “powerful show of force” against Russian threats in the Arctic, British officials said Saturday.
“I can announce today that the UK will deploy our carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North this year, led by HMS Prince of Wales, operating alongside the US, Canada and other NATO allies in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the Munich security conference.
The group will include Royal Navy warships, F-35 jets and helicopters in what has been dubbed “Operation Firecrest,” the ministry of defense said in a statement.
It will be a “powerful show of force … to deter Russian aggression and protect vital undersea infrastructure.”
The HMS Prince of Wales is the Royal Navy’s largest warship and US aircraft are also expected to operate from its deck.
The operation will involve thousands of personnel from all three services of the Armed Forces, the MoD statement added.
“The deployment will include activity under NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission, launched this week, strengthening the Alliance’s security in a region where melting sea ice is opening new routes and increasing threat from hostile state activity,” the ministry said.
France has also announced that it will deploy its aircraft carrier group in the region in 2026.
Starmer told the Munich conference that Britain must be “ready to fight.”
Leaders must not dither as “Russia has proved its appetite for aggression,” he said.
“The road ahead is straight and it is clear. We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age,” he added.
“We must be able to deter aggression, and, yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight.”
The defense ministry said the deployment would reinforce “NATO’s deterrence at a time of rising Russian threats in the region.”
It added that “over the past two years, there has been a 30 percent increase in Russian navy vessels threatening UK waters.”
US President Donald Trump has also unnerved European countries by saying Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic, should come under US control.
Trump said last month however that an understanding had been reached with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte that would give the United States greater influence in the mineral-rich and strategically placed territory.
“I can announce today that the UK will deploy our carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North this year, led by HMS Prince of Wales, operating alongside the US, Canada and other NATO allies in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the Munich security conference.
The group will include Royal Navy warships, F-35 jets and helicopters in what has been dubbed “Operation Firecrest,” the ministry of defense said in a statement.
It will be a “powerful show of force … to deter Russian aggression and protect vital undersea infrastructure.”
The HMS Prince of Wales is the Royal Navy’s largest warship and US aircraft are also expected to operate from its deck.
The operation will involve thousands of personnel from all three services of the Armed Forces, the MoD statement added.
“The deployment will include activity under NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission, launched this week, strengthening the Alliance’s security in a region where melting sea ice is opening new routes and increasing threat from hostile state activity,” the ministry said.
France has also announced that it will deploy its aircraft carrier group in the region in 2026.
Starmer told the Munich conference that Britain must be “ready to fight.”
Leaders must not dither as “Russia has proved its appetite for aggression,” he said.
“The road ahead is straight and it is clear. We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age,” he added.
“We must be able to deter aggression, and, yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight.”
The defense ministry said the deployment would reinforce “NATO’s deterrence at a time of rising Russian threats in the region.”
It added that “over the past two years, there has been a 30 percent increase in Russian navy vessels threatening UK waters.”
US President Donald Trump has also unnerved European countries by saying Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic, should come under US control.
Trump said last month however that an understanding had been reached with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte that would give the United States greater influence in the mineral-rich and strategically placed territory.
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