Mohamed Bakkali, the logistician of the November 13 attacks, will benefit from prison leave

A court decision which sparks controversy. Mohamed Bakkali, convicted in France for his role as a “logistician” in the Paris attacks of November 13, 2015 and incarcerated in Belgium, will benefit from prison leave. The Brussels sentence enforcement court granted six prison leaves of 36 hours each to this Belgian-Moroccan, who is serving his sentence in Ittre prison, south of the Belgian capital.

“The sentence enforcement court, on the contrary opinion of the prosecution, made this decision. The public prosecutor’s office does not have the right of appeal and the decision is therefore final. It is up to the prison director to implement it,” the Brussels prosecutor’s office told AFP.

In 2022, Mohamed Bakkali was sentenced in France to 30 years in prison for his involvement in the attacks of November 13, 2015. He is considered the “logistician” of the attacks, having notably provided hideouts and vehicles to the perpetrators of the attacks.

He was also sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the failed attack against a Thalys between Brussels and Paris on August 21, 2015.

A “trivialization of terrorism”

The prison leave granted to him aroused the indignation of part of the Belgian political class.

“What a shame,” reacted right-wing MP Denis Ducarme (MR) on Thursday, deploring a “trivialization of terrorism.” “This decision seems to turn its back on the memory of the victims,” he told the government during a plenary session in Parliament.

“The sentence enforcement court has in fact granted the person concerned, under very strict conditions, six prison leaves of 36 hours each on the basis of an in-depth examination of his file,” indicated the Minister of Justice Annelies Verlinden.

Mohamed Bakkali had already benefited from leave of absence before. The right intends to table a bill to allow the prosecution to appeal the decisions of the sentencing court in cases of “terrorist crimes”.