Explained | Brussels bombings: What happened in 2016? What is the case?

A Belgian court on Tuesday (July 25) convicted six men of murder and two others of terrorism charges for the 2016 bombings in Brussels that killed 35people, and injured hundreds. The trial revived painful memories for the nearly 1,000 registered to attend. They included those who lost loved ones or were injured and witnesses to the bombings.

According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the court found that the six men, of the 10 facing charges, were guilty of murder and attempted murder in a terrorist context for their part in the twin bombings at Brussels airport and the third bomb on the city's metro on March 22, 2016.

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These six men were also convicted of participating in the activities of a terrorist group. Two men were acquitted of murder but were found guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist group and two others were acquitted of the charges they faced.

What happened on that day?

On the morning of March 22, 2016, two men blew themselves up at the Brussels-Zaventem International Airport. An hour later, a third explosion was reported in a metro train near the seat of the European Union (EU).

The bombings, which took place near the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the EU, were part of a series of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group in Europe. On Tuesday, the court increased the death toll from the bombings from 32 to 35 after it found a link between the trauma suffered and the deaths of three more people subsequently.

According to a report by the news agency AFP, one of the persons in the latest death toll was a 23-year-old woman who was at the airport at the time of the explosion. The woman decided to end her life through euthanasia due to the mental suffering inflicted.

Who was convicted?

Among those convicted in the twin bombings was French citizen Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the trial over the 2015 Paris attacks that killed 130 people. Others found guilty included Mohamed Abrini and Osama Krayem.

Abrini, a man of Belgian-Moroccan descent, went to the Brussels-Zaventem International Airport with the two suicide bombers but fled without detonating his suitcase of explosives. Meanwhile, Krayem, who is from Sweden, was accused of planning to be a second bomber on the Brusselsmetro.

Krayem was found guilty of murder along with defendants Ali El Haddad Asufi and Bilal El Makhoukhi.

Osama Atar, who is believed to have been killed in an air strike in Syria, was convicted in absentia of masterminding the attacks.

Two other defendants -- Tunisian Sofien Ayari and Rwandan Herve Bayingana Muhirwa -- were acquitted of murder but found guilty of participating in a terrorist group. Brothers Smail and Ibrahim Farisi were acquitted of the charges they faced.

Trialheld under tight security

Tuesday's trial was held under tight securityat the converted former headquarters of NATO. The trial started at the end of 2022 and dozens of wounded survivors and bereaved relatives often gave emotional testimony during the hearings.

Presiding Judge Laurence Massart rattled through the list of nearly 300 separate charges in minutes on Tuesday evening and then spent five hours outlining the jury's reasoning. The jury members sat facing the accused, seven of them seated behind glass screens and guarded by police officers in balaclavas.

Verdict 'will help turn a page': Victims

Pierre Bastin, whose daughter was killed in the metro blast, said he hoped the trial would "help to turn the page". "Yes it (the verdict) will help turn a page, of course. It's a process which has to happen, yes," Bastin added.

Pierre Yves Desaive, who was a survivor of the airport bombing, thanked the jurors for the verdict. "You need to remember that the jurors have really been with us throughout. They have all my gratitude because, of course, they did their duty as citizens, but I think no citizen is prepared to cope with that and I'm not just talking about being cut off from one's family and work life for seven months," Desaive said.

"I think what they've seen and what they've heard will affect them terribly and if I can pass on a message, I know they are allowed psychological support but they have done their duty to society and now it's up to society to help them," Desaive added.

What happens next?

The murder convictions leave those found guilty facing a life sentence in Belgium. Sentencing is expected after the summer recess ends in September. Vincent Lurquin, who is the lawyer for Bayingana Muhirwa, one of the two acquitted of murder in the case, reacted to the verdict by saying, "I think it's a judgement that will be remembered, an important judgement. And also the jurors have worked very well, have worked very hard, and that proves that a criminal court is one of the best responses to terrorism."

(With inputs from agencies)

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