Nizar Trabelsi, a former Tunisian professional footballer who has become a jihadist, once again walked Belgian soil this morning after spending twelve years in detention in the United States. His arrival at Zaventem airport was accompanied by a reinforced security system, with immediate care by the federal police and specialized security services.
His return to Belgian territory today raises many questions. Nizar Trabelsi not having Belgian nationality, the question of its legal status remains unresolved. The authorities will have to decide on its possible right of residence or consider a new transfer to another country, adding a layer of uncertainty to an already complex case.
An attack avoided
Nizar Trabelsi was sentenced in 2004 in Belgium to 10 years in prison for planning a suicide attack on the Kleine-Brogel air base. He had recognized, during the trial, that he intended to kill American soldiers in this base.
In November 2008, the American authorities had claimed from Belgium the extradition of Mr. Trabelsi, as Americans were present at the Kleine-Brogel air base. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had prohibited, in an emergency, to Belgium from extracting man. The Belgian government had not awaited the exhaustion of the remedies and, on October 3, 2013, the extradition had been executed.
In July 2023, after ten years of detention, Nizar Trabelsi was acquitted by an American federal jury. However, he remained incarcerated in isolation for illegal stay.
Last January, the Brussels Court of Appeal condemned the Belgian state to on -call duty, believing that it did not do what is necessary to repatriate Nizar Trabelsi in Belgium. American justice and Belgian justice therefore ended up agreeing on its extradition.
