Brussels attacker escaped from Tunisian prison: prosecutor

By AFP
October 23, 2023
Police set a perimeter at the site of a shooting incident in the Ieperlaan — Boulevard d’Ypres, in Brussels, on October 16, 2023. – AFP
Police set a perimeter at the site of a shooting incident in the Ieperlaan — Boulevard d’Ypres, in Brussels, on October 16, 2023. – AFP

BRUSSELS: The Islamist gunman who shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels last weekend had escaped from a Tunisia prison where he was serving a long sentence, which prompted Tunisian officials to seek his extradition from Belgium, prosecutors said on Sunday.

Belgian authorities received the extradition request in August 2022 but it was not dealt with. Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne resigned on Friday over what he called a “monumental error”. The capital´s chief prosecutor Tim De Wolf offered an explanation to the press on Sunday.