Brussels judge dismisses Trabelsi's claim for 3 million euros
Nizar Trabelsi, former professional footballer and convicted terrorist, loses his case for penalty payments against the Belgian state. The Brussels judge rules both claims unfounded.
Court rejects Trabelsi's multi-million euro claim against Belgian state
The Brussels enforcement judge has completely dismissed Nizar Trabelsi's claim against the Belgian state, according to vrt.be. Trabelsi demanded a total of more than 3 million euros in penalty payments and damages, but the court ruled both claims unfounded.
The case is part of a legal dossier that has been running for tens of years. Trabelsi, a former Tunisian professional footballer, was convicted in Belgium in 2003 for planning an attack on the Kleine-Brogel military base for Al Qaeda. After serving his ten-year prison sentence, he was extradited to the United States in 2013, a decision that caused considerable controversy at the time. After more than ten years of pre-trial detention in the US, he was acquitted of the same charges.
On 8 August 2025, Trabelsi landed at Brussels Airport, whereupon he was immediately issued with an expulsion order and transferred to the closed centre for undocumented migrants in Merksplas. He then filed a first compensation claim against this. However, the Brussels judge ruled that this claim was unjustified, because Trabelsi was never actually expelled. On 22 October 2025 he was released and has since been residing on Belgian territory.
A second claim concerned the communication between Belgium and the United States regarding his release. Trabelsi wanted to obtain those documents to determine what information Belgium had or had not provided to America. The judge also rejected this request, on the grounds that the communication is sufficiently documented. He referred to a diplomatic note of 9 July 2025 and stated that there are no indications of any additional correspondence.
In total, the Belgian state has already paid more than 550,000 euros in penalty payments and costs to Trabelsi in the context of the ongoing legal proceedings. The dismissal of the two new claims, together worth more than 3 million euros, represents another step in a dossier that remains unresolved.
Source: GNews BE Justitie