Tomorrow Salah Abdeslam and co will know if they are guilty: white smoke after 19 (!) days of deliberation | Interior

The terrorist process about the attacks on the airport in Zaventem and on the metro in Maalbeek was already disproportionate with a duration of 7 months. As expected, the discussion about the guilt of the men on the dock has not changed. The 12 jurors – five men and seven women – have lived in complete isolation from the outside world since Thursday evening, July 6, to answer exactly 287 questions about the guilt of the accused. It was estimated in advance that this would take fourteen days. In the end it became a little more: 19 days.

A deliberation on an assize process usually takes several hours. Given the special circumstances of the monstrous trial, chairman Laurence Massart – who, together with two assessors and their deputies, also had to go into seclusion – urged all jurors to stop having any contact with the outside world once they deliberated. That is why they had to hand over their mobile phone and their watch in advance. Luc Hennart, the president of the court of assizes, already outlined the exceptional situation: “The jury will be taken from the court of assizes to a secret location, which is guarded by the police around the clock. The jurors are not allowed to watch television and have an internet ban. This is to prevent any influence.”

To be clear, it was only the jurors who voted on guilt. The magistrates were there to debate with the jurors during deliberation. The magistrates also had to justify the jury’s decision – with their blessing – on paper. For all those people, all contact with their immediate family has been prohibited for the past 19 days. Passing on a message or a drawing of their children: that was not allowed. Small consolation: it was the jury itself that arranged the planning. They determined how long they met each day, when they rested, and when they went to sleep. Hennart did clarify that they would be notified in the event of something very important such as an accident or a death in their immediate vicinity. “In that case, the juror will be replaced,” said Hennart. That is precisely why not only the twelve effective jurors had to go into seclusion, but also the fifteen remaining reserve jurors. For the sake of completeness: they were not allowed to have any contact with the effective jurors for the past 19 days. They just had to wait – until there was white smoke at the effective jury.

The jury also had to decide in the past two and a half weeks whether there were possibly 36 instead of 32 fatalities in the attacks. It concerns four victims who died some time later, but where there is a causal connection. These include Shanti De Corte, who survived the attacks as a 17-year-old, but opted for euthanasia in 2022. The young woman was beaten down by panic attacks, depression and flashbacks.

The secret location of the jury, court and reserve jurors is known to our editors. It is a design hotel with four stars and a luxurious spa with a view of the woods. The hotel was also previously a haven for a first-class football club.

The decision on the guilt of Salah Abdeslam, Mohamed Abrini (38) and the eight other accused will be announced tomorrow at 2 pm. Afterwards, the jury and the court will be on vacation until September 4. Then the people’s jury has to deliberate again – this time to decide on the sentences together with the professional judges.