Belgian ’King of Prison Breaks’ Acquitted in 2018 Kidnapping and Attempted Murder Cases

Mitigating situation for Nordin Benallal, "a name that has made judicial headlines several times". The 47th chamber of the Brussels correctional court acquitted him of three counts of kidnapping and attempted murder on April 11, perpetrated in Wallonia and Brussels in 2018, reports La Dernière Heure. Why? According to a source close to the case, the investigation "seems to have been poorly conducted regarding Benallal". In its decision, the court noted that the evidence against him was not sufficient to remove all reasonable doubt as to his involvement in the alleged acts.

Last arrested in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave near the Strait of Gibraltar in August 2020 for his participation in violent kidnappings and home invasions, the man known for having escaped five times was sentenced to 36 months in prison for these acts in August 2022. He is reportedly still detained in Spain. In Belgium, his accomplice Raoul P., a former paracommando, was not as fortunate. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

The alleged acts date back to 2018. Three armed and ill-intentioned criminals had attacked victims also known to the authorities in order to extort money from them. On January 1, 2018, in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, the same individuals committed acts of extreme violence. Armed with baseball bats and a Kalashnikov, they fired three times at a well-known drug dealer. The man was wounded but survived. On February 24, 2018, the gang kidnapped a man at a car wash in Tubize, before holding him captive in a warehouse. On March 19 of the same year, the same gang had attempted to kidnap the manager of a snack bar in Forest. They had fired five times in his direction, wounding him in the hand and stomach.

A former paracommando, Raoul P. and Nordin Benallal were arrested and placed in detention in July 2018. Investigators were never able to identify the third suspect.