State security had information in August 2022 that someone had plans to commit an attack at a festival in Ostend. Based on that information, the W-festival site was thoroughly investigated, but nothing was found.
Via Telegram, the defendant from Ypres turned out to be looking for a war weapon and companions. V. was arrested on August 23, 2022. The forties turned out to have around 100,000 extremist photos in his possession.
