Anti-terrorist Europe stops at the doors of the judges
(B2 archives *) Since the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001, the European Ministers of Justice and of the Interior have been saying it and repeating it in all tones; the coordination of efforts in the fight against terrorism is "the" priority.
Barely a week ago, the Italian, Spanish, English, German and French ministers met in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) to repeat this leitmotif. But this will seems to come up against certain resistance on the ground, judicial in particular. Evidenced by the trial that just opened last week in Brussels against twenty people suspected from near or far of being part of the Al Qaeda movement in Europe.
Police cooperation works, between magistrates ... more difficult
While the tracking and arrest of the accused took place in a certain cooperation between the police services concerned - British, Dutch, Italian and French in particular - the contact between magistrates seems less effective, even counter-productive. Some of the defendants in the Belgian trial are not altar boys: Tarek Maaroufi - a former member of the GIA networks in Belgium - and Amor Sliti are suspected of having facilitated the recruitment and transit of Massoud's assassins to their target; Nizar Trabelsi, a former professional player of Fortuna Düsseldorf, is accused of having prepared an attack against American interests.
Part of the puzzle in France
But the other part of the puzzle, just as important, is in the hands of the French magistrates: Djamel Beghal, a Franco-Algerian, former member of the GIA suspected of being the head of Trabelsi; Amal Halim, Trabelsi's companion, pregnant, was arrested in Corsica in September 2001 and since then placed under house arrest. Just last Friday (May 23), two people whose identity has not been revealed were arrested in Paris.
The other part in Belgium
However, despite several meetings, cooperation between anti-terrorist judges seems to have stalled. Belgian investigating judge Christian de Valkeneer wanted to hear Trabelsi's wife. Refusal of his French counterpart Jean-Louis Bruguière. " We were ready to make the trip to Paris if necessary. “says a lawyer. New denial. Result: on both sides of the border, each defendant charges the other. With impunity, lack of confrontation.
Judge Bruguière's obsession
When Judge Bruguière came to Belgium at the end of 2002, he had only one idea in mind, says a lawyer, " obtain confirmation of a plan to attack the American embassy in Paris ". A goal that had, at first, admitted Beghal. Confessions later retracted. " He wanted me to confirm the attack. In exchange for what, I could see my son”, meets Nizar Trabelsi in court on Friday (1).
The ego of certain magistrates
A string a little big and which aimed, above all, according to some observers, to repatriate the file to Paris. For Bruguière's own personal gain! “He is upset”, says a lawyer, speaks of the French judge. " Trabelsi made complete confessions to the Belgian examining magistrate who totally contradict his hypothesis. In the office of the French examining magistrate, they refuse to enter into the controversial game, taking refuge behind the famous "secret of the instruction", with a small touch of spite, however, advancing a childish " we had started our investigation before the Belgians ". It remains to be hoped that one day the ego of certain magistrates will deflate. On that day, the fight against terrorism will undoubtedly have made good progress...
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
(1) The person concerned, in confessions recorded by the judge, and for the moment not retracted, always affirmed the same thing: “ I was aiming for Kleine Brogel », a Belgian military base, close to the Dutch border, where NATO strategic missiles and an American military detachment are stationed.
(*) Paper published in a first version in Ouest-France
