From this week, victims will be discussed during the process of attacks March 22 | Process attacks Brussels

The hearing started with six accused in the accused box. Only Salah Abdeslam, who announced in January that he would only show up for the verdict, returned to his cell. It was striking that Osama Krayem also remained seated. Krayem has returned to his cell every day since the start of the trial. “He also attended the victims’ testimonies at the trial in Paris,” said his lawyer Gisèle Stuyck.

The focus on Monday morning was the former director of the burns center in Neder-Over-Heembeek, a rehabilitation doctor and a nose, throat and ear doctor. They testified about the long recovery that awaited the victims.

According to Serge Jennes, head of the burn center in Neder-Over-Heembeek in 2016, most of the victims who came in that day were 8 to 10 percent burned, but there was also a 12-year-old child whose body was burned for 40 percent used to be. Victims who were in critical condition often had a variety of injuries from metal fragments. Rehabilitation physician Thierry Lejeune said that after initial care, each victim was given an individual program that could last months to years, sometimes even a lifetime, if someone gets a prosthesis. Ear nose, throat and ear doctor Gérald Van Geert, on the other hand, testified about the hearing damage that many victims were left with, such as deafness and tinnitus, often for life.

At the end of the morning, psychiatrist and psychotraumatologist Nadia Kadi-Van Acker came to testify. She is a psychiatrist and psychotraumatologist and counsels several victims of the attacks in Zaventem and Maalbeek. Kadi-Van Acker repeated several times during her testimony that the impact of an event on a person depends very much on the circumstances and on the person himself. “Some people respond right away, others don’t respond at all, making it seem like everything is okay. Yet the traumatic memory can only emerge later, “said the psychiatrist.

“What is traumatizing is the surprise effect, a confrontation with the reality of death and the feeling that life is in danger,” says Kadi-Van Acker. Specific to terrorism is that the enemy is unknown and can appear anywhere and victims have a feeling of impotence, that they are losing control.

The psychiatrist explains that victims sometimes forget what happened at the time of a traumatic event, or that they feel that they are stepping out of their body and experiencing everything from a distance. “Some seem fine and even go to help victims and rescuers, but actually act completely on autopilot,” she says. This dissociation is a protection mechanism and can cause people to withdraw completely into their own bubble.

Victims can also develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), where they carry the traumatic event with them for months and have nightmares or flashbacks. Some people don’t dare to sleep in the dark or don’t dare to go outside anymore, so they completely isolate themselves socially. Other victims end up in a depression or may show symptoms of a psychosis, sometimes not until a long period after the attacks. “And even if they give the trauma a place, it can resurface when, for example, other attacks take place or when they have to speak about their experiences,” as at the trial.

When asked how victims recover after such a trauma, Kadi-Van Acker answered that it mainly takes time. It helps if people are well surrounded and are helped quickly, but most victims mainly learn to live with their trauma. “There is a period before and a period after the trauma,” says Kadi-Van Acker. She also pointed out the importance of involving the families in the guidance process. “They help us to help the victims,” she said.

In the afternoon it was the turn of the victims themselves. Their testimonials will last until the end of March. This week the victims of Brussels Airport will testify, from next Wednesday the victims of Maelbeek metro station will be on the program.

Aline Fery, lawyer of victim collective Life4Brussels, asked the court for understanding for victims who were called to testify but will not come to speak. “It’s too hard for them, they don’t have the strength to look the accused in the eye, to relive the facts,” said the lawyer. “It’s not that they’re not interested, they just don’t have the courage.”

The lawyer also returned to the issue of victims’ medical expenses and their reimbursement, which the experts also discussed. “After seven years, there are victims who have still not received compensation and who are still completely responsible for their own medical costs,” she said. “They are still fighting insurance companies, they are being abused by the system.”