Belgium Ordered to Pay €25,310 to Moroccan Terror Suspect Over Rights Violation

Abdallah O, a presumed member of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, had been sentenced along with his accomplices to 6 years in prison in 2007 by the 12th Correctional Chamber of the Brussels Court of Appeal. Arrested since 2004, he was released in 2010 after spending 1,038 days between March 2004 and January 2007 under this regime.

During this period, the detainee was imprisoned in appalling conditions. All day long, he was held in a 7 m² cell, except for one hour of exercise, in a fenced-in area of 9 m², without any physical contact and without any physical activity. These years of imprisonment in extreme conditions resulted in a loss of flexibility, back pain and swelling of the lower limbs. He was also monitored every 30 minutes and several times each of the 1,038 nights. Worse, the defendant was fed "haram" meals and subjected, during visits, to a full body search with squatting in front of the guards.

Since his release in 2010, the one who is still presumed innocent lives in isolation at home, weakened by these detention conditions. "I don’t want to see anyone, not even my wife and children," he specifies. Following the conviction, the lawyers of the Belgian state unsuccessfully sought evidence to defeat this sanction. According to la Dernière heure, the Council of State had already annulled in 1997 the royal decrees, relating to safety and the maintenance of order. They had been in force since 1965, it is specified.

Regarding the surveillance, the court ordered the Belgian state to pay 5 euros per day of detention the first year and 10 and 15 the following years. As for the strict isolation and strip searches, Abdallah O will receive 10 euros per day of incarceration the first year, and 15 and 20 the following years. While he should have received 75,000 euros for his 1,038 days of detention, the court of appeal set them at 25,310 euros.