A Belgian court has sparked outrage for authorizing multiple 36-hour furloughs to Mohamed Bakkali, the jihadi who orchestrated the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks that killed 132 people, setting the stage for his premature permanent release from prison.
Bakkali, the only jihadi to have been convicted twice for his involvement in two different attacks, was sentenced by the Paris Assize Court to 30 years for the Paris massacres and another 25 years for planning a terror attack on the Thalys train connecting Amsterdam and Paris.
Europe has completely lost the plot.
On May 11, the Brussels Sentence Enforcement Court (TAP) granted Bakkali “prison leave,” a measure authorized by the Belgian justice system to prepare for a possible conditional release, as Belgian newspaper La Capitale reported on May 20. Bakkali will be allowed to leave prison six times for 36 hours on each occasion in 2026.
Court Overrules Prosecutor’s Objection
TAP authorities said that no legal obstacle prevented the court from granting the jihadi multiple furloughs and early leave, especially since Bakkali had already made considerable efforts to re-establish contact with the victims.
The court also stated that he demonstrated a clear desire to reintegrate into society and there was no reason to fear he would harass the victims. Bakkali has convinced prison authorities and the judge of his “good conduct” and “distancing from radical ideas,” the court added.
According to Le Monde, these 36-hour furloughs, which allow the terrorist to spend the night outside prison, constitute a preliminary step toward placing him under electronic monitoring with a view to parole. A further hearing is scheduled for September to decide on the next steps.
The Brussels prosecutor’s office clarified it had issued a negative opinion, but that it had no opportunity to appeal the TAP decision. “The court made this decision despite the prosecution’s opposition. The prosecution has no right to appeal, and the decision is therefore final,” Brussels prosecutor’s office stated. “It is up to the prison director to implement it.”
Belgium’s Minister of Justice Annelies Verlinden said the leave was granted “under very strict conditions” after “a thorough examination of the case.” Bakkali had previously been granted leave of absence, but for shorter periods, she revealed.
Deadliest Jihadi Attacks Since 2004
Bakkali is considered the mastermind behind the massacre of November 13, 2015, during which three teams of Islamic State jihadis carried out coordinated mass killings with AK-47 or Zastava M70 assault rifles and explosives in a football stadium, a theatre, two cafes, and two restaurants in Paris.
The Islamist attacks, the deadliest in Europe since the Madrid bombings on March 11, 2004, were designed to kill and maim as many civilians as possible. Bakkali was convicted of aiding the perpetrators by renting hideouts and cars and providing them with false identity papers.
The jihadis attacked the iconic Stade de France in Saint-Denis, where three suicide bombers blew themselves up after failing to enter the stadium; the Bataclan music club, where three attackers were killed or blew themselves up after shooting and taking hostages; and central Paris, where a mobile team fired on restaurants and cafes.
The final toll was 142 deaths (132 victims and 10 terrorists or their relatives) and more than 413 injuries, making these attacks the worst mass killings recorded in Paris in peacetime. According to a forensic report, most of the victims died as a result of ballistic wounds causing craniocerebral injuries, extensive organ lacerations and/or massive haemorrhage.
Bakkali had previously been sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the failed attack against a high-speed Thalys train travelling from Brussels to Paris on August 21, 2015, during which a heavily armed Moroccan jihadi, Ayoub El-Khazzani, attempted mass slaughter.
El-Khazzani was overpowered by three American vacationers—two of whom were off-duty U.S. military personnel—and a British passenger.
Bakkali was charged in Brussels with helping El-Khazzani in the train attack. Brussels handed Bakkali over to French authorities on condition that he would serve any eventual sentence in Belgium.
French Expert on Islamism Warns of Grave Consequences for Europe
In September 2022, the French national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office reduced both sentences to the maximum legal term of 30 years.
Following his convictions in France, authorities transferred Bakkali to Belgium in 2023, subjecting him to Belgian sentencing law. The mandatory term imposed by the French court no longer applied, and Bakkali became eligible for parole after serving one-third of his sentence.
“The Belgian justice system is currently experiencing failures whose consequences extend far beyond the borders of the Kingdom. It is now the security of the entire European continent that is at stake,” Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, founder-president of the European Centre for Research and Information on the Muslim Brotherhood (CERIF), told Focus on Western Islamism.
“While Brussels is considering the early release of a jihadi involved in the November 13, 2015, terrorist attacks, Mohamed Toujgani (an imam expelled in 2022 because of his radical views) has just been granted Belgian citizenship following a ruling by the country’s highest court,” Bergeaud-Blackler revealed. The French anthropologist, whose latest book, Jihad Through the Market: How Radical Islam Is Taking over the Halal Market, is causing a stir in France, explained how “France chose to establish a centralized and specialized counterterrorism judicial system with dedicated resources in the aftermath of the 2015 attacks.”
“Belgium did not follow the same path. Yet within the Schengen area, the consequences of decisions taken in Brussels do not stop at Belgium’s borders: a terrorist released from prison or a radical preacher granted citizenship can travel freely across the European Union the very next day,” she warned.
“It’s a disgrace,” Belgian Member of Parliament Denis Ducarme remarked in the parliament, deploring the “trivialization of terrorism.” He added: “This decision seems to turn its back on the memory of the victims.”
“Europe has completely lost the plot. This outrageous decision shows how dangerously disconnected certain elites and parts of our justice system have become from reality,” Ralph Pais, spokesman for Belgium’s Jewish Information and Documentation Center, told the Jewish News Service.
“Our justice system chooses to show leniency toward one of the men who helped organize the deadliest Islamist attack in modern European history,” Pais noted, lamenting “the message this sends” to “the victims’ families, to the survivors who still live with trauma every single day,” and to “the police officers and intelligence services risking their lives to prevent the next massacre.”
