Two men charged by French judge over deadly attack in Brussels last week

A Paris judge on Monday (Oct 23) charged two men suspected of having links with the Islamist gunman who killed two Swedish football fans in Brussels last week, reported AFP.

The men were charged with forming a terror group and getting involved in murder linked to a terror plot. France's anti-terror prosecutor's office said that both men were placed in detention.

The two men were amongst four people arrested by French authorities over the last week following a deadly attack in Brussels. All of them were suspected of having links with Abdesalem Lassoued, the terrorist behind the killing of two fans just before the start of a Belgium-Sweden international football match.

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Out of those four, two were released without charges.

French prosecutors said they opened a formal investigation into a suspected "criminal terrorist conspiracy" after receiving information on the case from the Belgian judiciary.

About Abdesalem Lassoued

BBC reported that Abdesalem Lassoued had earlier escaped from prison in Tunisia and sought refuge in Europe.

He had been sentenced to 26 years in prison in 2005 for crimes including attempted murder. In 2011, he is believed to have escaped prison and arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Watch:Belgium justice minister resigns after deadly Brussels attack

He applied for asylum in Belgium. His application was rejected and since then, authorities around Europe have failed to keep track.

The Tunisian authorities had asked Belgium to return Lassoued home in August 2022. Belgian officials received the extradition request but failed to process it.

The man was eventually shot dead by French police Tuesday morning (Oct 17) after he killed two fans.

Resignation by Belgium's Justice Minister

Belgium's Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne resigned Friday (Oct 20) after issuing an apology to the families of the victims.

"I sincerely want to apologise to the victims and their loved ones," Mr Van Quickenborne said during his resignation speech. "I am not looking for any excuses."

He said he wanted to take "political responsibility for this unacceptable mistake".

Brussels public prosecutor Tim De Wolf blamed understaffing in his office for the failure to act on the extradition request.

(With inputs from agencies)

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