Couple jailed for planning terrorist attack in Antwerp

The Bruges correctional court has sentenced a 26-year-old Chechen man from West Flanders to 15 years’ prison and a 10-year supervision order for attempted terrorist murder. 

Abubakar S and his wife, who has been jailed for eight years, planned to carry out an attack in Antwerp’s Jewish quarter and at a gay bar in the city. The prosecution had requested 18 years in prison. 

The investigation started in spring 2023, when State Security found indications that Abubakar S was becoming radicalised. He was said to have become interested in the Islamic State terrorist group and was having conversations via Telegram about a possible terrorist attack. 

In his search for weapons and accomplices, he came into contact with an undercover agent and was caught when he bought a weapon from the agent in May 2023.

According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the plans for the attack in Antwerp were well advanced. S was also found to have been planning a smaller-scale attack on local police. 

His wife, Liza M, 35, was judged to have supported and encouraged him in his plans. His brother and another defendant were found guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist group and given a suspended sentence of four years. A cousin of S was acquitted. 

^{#FlandersNewsService | Pieterjan Dens, lawyer for Abubakar S, pictured during an unrelated trial in Bruges, September 2022 © BELGA PHOTO KURT DESPLENTER}