BRUSSELS, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- The trial of 13 men accused in Belgium of being part of a terrorist organization has been adjourned until Nov. 16.
Security was tight at the court in Brussels during Thursday's proceedings, Expatica reported. The trial is the first in Belgium under a 2003 law that makes membership in a terrorist group a crime carrying a 10-year prison sentence.
The defendants allegedly belong to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group or GICM. Prosecutors say that the group has ties to Al-Qaida and helped the bombers in the 2004 attack on commuter trains in Madrid that killed 191 people.
Khalid Bouloudou, one of the defendants, is also alleged to have supported the Casablanca bombing, which killed 45 people.
Belgium's own language-division is complicating the trial, which is being held in a Francophone court. Expatica reported lawyers for three of the defendants, all natives of the Flemish town of Maaseik, asked to be allowed to conduct their part of the proceedings in Dutch so that their clients' relatives would understand what was going on. The motion was rejected.
