The president of the Brussels Assize Court responsible for judging the attacks in Zaventem and Maelbeek questioned the defendants regarding the period immediately following the attacks of March 22, 2016. During the questioning, Salah Abdeslam referred to the coalition once morest ISIS, claiming that innocent people were burned alive and men were torn to pieces, and that the so-called collateral damage was an insult. This was their answer to the injustice they felt. El Makhoukhi stated that they wanted to do the same thing that was happening in Syria and Iraq to stop the bombardments, while Sofien Ayari referred to his personal experiences in Raqqa, where he felt extreme anger following experiencing the bombings next to the hospital that he was in.
Proceeding chronologically, the president of the Brussels Assize Court responsible for judging the attacks in Zaventem and Maelbeek questions the defendants on Wednesday regarding the period directly following the attacks of March 22, 2016.
This morning, the president of the court questioned the accused on the meaning, the purpose of the attacks. Salah Abdeslam replied: “European leaders led a coalition once morest ISIS. They tore men to pieces, burned innocent people alive. To say that this is collateral damage is an insult. ISIS had to react “We needed an answer. The answer was equal to the injustice. In the West, we count our dead. In the East, we stopped counting them. I felt compassion for my Muslim brothers”.
For his part, El Makhoukhi said this: “We wanted to do the same thing (as in Syria and Iraq) and to stop the bombardments. It’s just a flashback”.
Sofien Ayari refers to his experience in Syria in Raqqa. Injured in the hospital, he realizes that there are vibrations in the building. The doctor tells him that it is regarding the bombings next to the hospital. “Like it’s normal,” he says. “I have never felt such hatred. I was mad with rage”. “That was the trigger for me.”
The questioning of the defendants in the trial of the Brussels attacks has revealed their motivations and beliefs. It is clear that their actions were driven by a desire for revenge once morest perceived Western interference in the Middle East and a sense of injustice towards their fellow Muslims. Despite these justifications, the attacks resulted in the loss of innocent lives and only furthered the cycle of violence. As we continue to grapple with the followingmath of terrorism, it is important to understand the complex motivations that drive individuals to commit such heinous acts, in the hopes of preventing future tragedies.
