The investigation into the terrorist attack that this Monday cost the lives of two Swedish citizens in the center of Brussels has revealed “important information”, the now former Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, announced today in an unexpected press conference. The Government of Tunisia had asked Belgium more than a year ago for the extradition of the person identified as the perpetrator of the attack, Abdesalem Lassoued. “The magistrate in charge has not followed up” on the request. “It is a monumental and unacceptable individual failure. Although it is an individual failure, I want to assume my political responsibility and therefore I present my resignation,” Van Quickenborne announced.
Until now, the Belgian Government had hid behind the lack of collaboration from certain North African countries to explain why Lassoude had not been deported to Tunisia after, in 2021, after denying his asylum request, the authorities Belgians ordered him to leave the country. The individual had been in an irregular situation in European community territory for 12 years and during this time he had unsuccessfully requested international protection in four European countries (Norway, Sweden, Italy and Belgium), revealed the representatives of Belgium and Sweden in the Council of Ministers of the Interior. Europeans held yesterday.
Van Quickenborne explained that the Tunisian Government’s request was registered by the Prosecutor’s Office in September 2022 but was not processed. “That year there were 31 similar dossiers. He is the only one who was not followed up. The case remained pending and was lost from sight,” the Prosecutor’s Office explained. A member of Flanders’ liberal party, Open Vld, Van Quickenborne, a heavyweight in the federal government, lives under reinforced police protection due to threats from mafia groups linked to the port of Antwerp, although in recent months he had earned plenty of headlines for a more embarrassing matter, the ‘pipigate’ scandal, for which he had to account before Parliament.
