A Brussels court on Tuesday, July 25, found Hervé Bayingana Muhirwa, a Belgian citizen believed to be of Rwandan origin, guilty of participating in activities of a terrorist group. According to Belgian public broadcaster RTBF, the Brussels court found six out of 10 suspects guilty of “terrorist murder” in the 2016 Brussels attacks claimed by the Islamic State group. The jury found six of the suspects guilty of murder and attempted murder, according to Belgian media. ALSO READ: Belgian court upholds sentence for Genocide convict Neretse Muhirwa was cleared of murder and attempted murder charges but found guilty of participating in a terrorist group, along with Sofien Ayari. Mohamed Abrini, Oussama Atar, Osama Krayem, Salah Abdeslam, Ali El Haddad Asufi and Bilal El Makhoukhi were all found guilty of terrorist murder. The Brussels court established a terrorist motive behind the attacks, ruling that the group’s intention was to intimidate the Belgian population and kill as many people as possible, RTBF reported. ALSO READ: Two Genocide suspects to appear in Brussels court Their sentences will be announced in September. Muhirwa’s lawyer, Vincent Lurquin, told reporters that he hoped that his client would be freed after the sentences are issued. In February, some reports citing information presented by examining magistrates and investigators at the Brussels Assize Court indicated that Muhirwa gradually became interested in radicalism after converting to Islam in 2011. On March 22, 2016, two coordinated terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium, one at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, and another at a metro station in central Brussels, left 32 people dead and more than 300 were injured.
