The Belgian state has paid over €600,000 to Nizar Trabelsi, a convicted terrorist, and the sum extends beyond just court-ordered penalties.
Trabelsi, a former footballer, received approximately €350,000 in penalties after the government delayed his return to Belgium. The payments were made because of a ruling that Belgium failed to promptly bring him back after he was released from U.S. Custody. According to VRT News, the daily penalty of €15,000 accumulated to a maximum of €300,000, plus roughly €50,000 in legal fees.
The situation began when Belgium handed Trabelsi over to the United States in 2013, despite a prohibition from the European Court of Human Rights. In January 2025, the Court of Appeal ruled that Belgium must allow Trabelsi to return. He was ultimately freed in the United States in July 2023, but remained in detention while his case was being sorted out. Bruzz reports that the Belgian State appealed the order for his release, but the Chamber of Indictment also ruled in his favor.
Trabelsi, who played as an attacker during his football career in the late 1980s and early 1990s for clubs including CS Sfaxien and Fortuna Düsseldorf, was convicted in 2004 for plotting an attack on the Kleine-Brogel airbase. Wikipedia details his career, which included stints at several German clubs before he became involved with Al-Qaeda. He was also found guilty of illegal weapons possession and membership in the terrorist group.
Despite the substantial financial settlement, Trabelsi currently resides in Belgium without legal residency. The payments have drawn criticism, with some questioning why a convicted terrorist is receiving such a large sum from the government. Vlaams Belang, an opposition party, pointed out the contrast between refusing to pay penalties to asylum seekers and providing €350,000 to a convicted terrorist, suggesting it could allow him to live in the country illegally indefinitely.
Additional penalties were imposed in the summer, but were not paid as Trabelsi was eventually brought back to Belgium. He was released from a detention center in Merksplas in late October.
