Nordin El Hajjioui: The "king of recusal" strikes again and freezes the Antwerp Court of Appeal

This new action targets the president of chamber B1M, who was to rule on a series of recusals filed against the judges of the drug chamber. Mr. Hans Rieder, the suspect’s lawyer, disputes the court’s refusal to grant a postponement of the hearing last week, while he was abroad, reports GVA.be.

The press magistrate, Els De Brauwer, confirmed that the pronouncement of the judgments is suspended. The contested president has two days to accept or refuse to withdraw. In case of refusal, the case will be brought before the Court of Cassation, prolonging a blockage described as "surprising" in legal circles.

Considered the "undisputed king of recusal requests", El Hajjioui, of Moroccan origin, has brought his total to 27 procedures, although none have been successful so far. These maneuvers seem to respond to a strategy of stagnation revealed by intercepted Sky ECC messages: "Tell him to drag this case on. The more it gathers dust, the better..."

This tactic significantly slows down the proceedings against the 38-year-old man. The court of appeal had initially decided to deal with the case in the absence of Mr. Rieder, considering that the defense should have organized itself to be present on the scheduled date for the pleadings.