The suicide bombings at Zaventem national airport and Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on 22 March 2016 killed 35 civilians. Three perpetrators also died. Responsibility for the attacks was claimed by the terrorist group Islamic State.
In November 2015, the same terror cell had struck in Paris, killing 130 people. Abdeslam did not blow himself up, as he had intended, and returned to Brussels. He was arrested just before his companions came into action in Brussels and eventually received a life sentence in France. Because he was imprisoned at the time of the Brussels attacks, his lawyer in this process asked, in vain, for acquittal.
Four defendants have been acquitted of terrorist murder. Three were convicted on other charges. Sentences for those convicted will be determined in September. Terrorist murder carries a life sentence.
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