Suspected Brussels shooter to be extradited to Belgium

Nemmouche, who is accused of murdering four people at a Jewish museum, is expected to appeal the decision.

By REUTERS
suspect in Brussels Jewish Museum shooting (photo credit: BELGIUM POLICE)
suspect in Brussels Jewish Museum shooting
(photo credit: BELGIUM POLICE)
VERSAILLES, France - A French court on Thursday approved the extradition to Belgium of the French suspect in a May 24 shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels that left four people, including two Israelis, dead.
Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, has been held in police custody on anti-terror laws on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and possession of weapons in relation to the attack since being arrested in the southern city of Marseille on May 30.
Nemmouche had originally refused extradition, then later agreed to it provided that Belgium would not send him to a third country for trial. His lawyer, Apolin Pepiezep, has said that Nemmouche was concerned that he would be sent to Israel, given that two of the victims of the attack were Israeli.
Prosecutors say Nemmouche was a repeat offender in France, having been convicted on counts of armed robbery, assault and vandalism, among other crimes, and spent most of 2013 in Syria fighting with Islamist rebels.
European governments are increasingly worried that citizens going to fight in Syria will import Islamist militancy on their return.
The attack by a man who opened fire with a Kalashnikov rifle killed the Israeli couple and a French woman. A Belgian man also shot and injured in the attack died on June 6.
When arrested at a Marseille bus terminal, Nemmouche was carrying a Kalashnikov, another gun and ammunition similar to that used in the shooting, prosecutors said. Pepiezep said Nemmouche told police he had stolen them from a car in Brussels.
Nemmouche has three days to appeal the decision. If he does, the Versailles appeals court will have 40 days to rule on whether or not to extradite him. If he does not, he will be extradited at the end of that period.
"He will most likely appeal the decision," said Pepiezep. "He has not received a guarantee from Belgium that he would not be extradited to a third country."
An extradition within EU member states takes on average 16 days if the suspect agrees to it, according to the European Commission.
An appeal was likely only to delay rather than block his transfer to Brussels, legal sources said.