deThe three young men that were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of having plotted a terrorist attack on politicians are 24, 23 and 18-years old. They all live in Antwerp. The 24-year-old suspect was already released yesterday (Thursday) due to lack of evidence.
According to VRT sources all three of the men detained on Thursday are Belgian nationals. The 18-year-old and 24-year-old are of Moroccan descent, while the 23-year-old suspect is of Chechen descent. All three knew each other personally.
The 24-year-old suspect was released on Thursday yesterday due to lack of evidence.
The 18-year-old suspect studies Defence and Security at the Sint-Norbertus Institute. A search was also carried out at the school on Thursday.
The 23-year-old suspect is also said to be studying security, more specifically cybersecurity at a college of higher education.
This morning (Friday 10 October), the 18-year-old and 23-year-old suspects will be brought before an examining magistrate. The examining magistrate will decide whether they should be formally arrested and charged.
Further investigation will set out to determine whether the three young men became radicalised off their own bat or they had contact with others.