In March 2016, terrorist attacks in Brussels killed 32 people and injured hundreds more. The mother of the only German victim does not want to take part in the process that has been going on since November. The memories would be "too painful".
The mother of the only German victim of the 2016 Brussels attacks will not take part in the ongoing court case in the Belgian capital. "I don't come to the trial because it's too painful for me and everything comes back up," Miriana S. told the AFP news agency in a written interview. "Besides, I couldn't be in the same room with the terrorists, or know they were around," added the 65-year-old.
On March 22, 2016, during the Islamist attacks in Brussels, several perpetrators blew themselves up at the airport and in a subway station. Among the 32 fatalities was Jennifer S., the daughter of Miriana S. The 29-year-old from Aachen wanted to fly with her husband on vacation from Brussels Airport. Her husband survived and was one of 340 injured. As of this week, the surviving victims of the attacks have had their say in the process that has been running since November. Later, relatives will also appear as joint plaintiffs.
Miriana S. would like the judges to impose a "hard sentence" on the alleged perpetrators, "i.e. life imprisonment". A possible apology from the suspected perpetrators would be "little consolation for S, my Jennifer won't bring me back". Nine of the defendants face life imprisonment for "murder and attempted terrorist murder". Among them is the Islamist Salah Abdeslam. He had already been sentenced to life imprisonment in France for his involvement in the November 2015 Paris attacks that killed 130 people. Miriana S. emphasizes that it is "important for her to finally conclude so that I can rest. And that is only possible when the negotiations are over." According to the court, the trial should last until the end of June or beginning of July.
During the hearing, some of the defendants and their lawyers criticized naked police searches, which the accused are subjected to before being transferred to court for trial days. This caused delays, and the interrogations of the accused are now scheduled for April. Abdeslam threatened not to appear in court if the nude searches continued.
"For me, such people have no demands at all," emphasized S. The Brussels victims' association Life 4 Brussels recently complained that because of these complaints from the alleged perpetrators and the delays, some victims and relatives no longer want to testify in the process.
