Belgian ’Escape King’ Sentenced to 4 Years for Leading Criminal Gang from Moroccan Prison

Nicknamed the "king of escape" after his spectacular escape from the Bruges prison in 2009, where he was serving a ten-year sentence for armed robberies, Ashraf Sekkaki, 39, took refuge in Morocco before being arrested and then detained in a prison near Rabat.

Despite his incarceration, the Moroccan has remained active. From his prison cell in Morocco, he would have been the leader of a criminal organization active in Belgium and specialized in money laundering, fraud, arms trafficking and threats. According to the Belgian authorities, the gang led by Sekkaki from his Moroccan cell is involved in the shooting at the Stadspaviljoen restaurant in Eindhoven in 2017.

The "king of escape" had been sentenced by default in February to four years in prison as the leader of this criminal network. In the fall, Sekkaki was given a new trial for which his lawyer, Frédéric Thiebaut, wished for his presence and requested his transfer from Morocco. But the Belgian authorities rejected this request, citing an "irresponsible security risk".