A 20-year-old neo-Nazi from the Flemish Brabant municipality of Opwijk is suspected of having planned to carry out 2 terror attacks. The 20-year-old allegedly intended to set fire to a mosque and also allegedly planned to kill a maximum number of people with an assault rifle in a second attack. His trial starts today (Friday 14 February).
The federal prosecutor's office started an investigation into the young man after he had come to the attention of the intelligence services. He used the messaging service Telegram where he chatted with others that shared his far-right views.
The 20-year-old also allegedly incited others to commit a terrorist attack. Further investigation revealed that the man was an admirer of mass murderers such as Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant.
Manifesto and plans for 2 terror attacks
According to a source close to the investigation, the suspect also wrote a manifesto, calling for the creation of a white ethnostate. To achieve that goal, the federal prosecutor's office says that the man planned two attacks.
The first was to be an arson attack on a mosque. In a subsequent attack he intended to shoot as many people as possible dead with an assault rifle. The suspect is said to have actively been seeing a firearm to enable him to carry out the second attack.
Terrorisme charges
At his trial that starts today he will answer charges of inciting terrorism and planning a terrorist attack. If found guilty, the 20-year-old risks a long prison sentence. He has already spent some time on remand but was released on conditional bail after a few months to await his trial.