Court closes debates in major drugs trial after defence challenges

A Belgian court has unexpectedly closed the debates in the trial of an alleged international drugs network said to be led by Belgian Flor Bressers and Brazilian national Sergio Roberto de Carvalho. The judges announced on Monday that they would no longer hear further arguments from the prosecution or defence. A verdict is due on 30 March at 10:00.

The decision follows new legal challenges filed by several defence lawyers. They are appealing against what the court describes as an “internal procedural measure”: a ruling made during an earlier hearing about practical arrangements in the courtroom and a series of related disputes.

At a previous session on 18 September, tensions rose when lawyer Louis De Groote tried to speak about heavy police security in and around the courtroom and the handling of detained defendants, including Bressers, 39. He was removed from the courtroom by police, which led to several requests to recuse the judges. Those challenges were later rejected, including by the Court of Cassation.

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On Monday, the court stated that some lawyers, including De Groote and Hans Rieder, who represents Bressers, had again appealed against the decision to group the remaining procedural disputes with the substance of the case. As the defence refused to accept that measure, the judges said it was no longer appropriate to keep the debates open and therefore took the case into deliberation.

Lawyers present, as well as journalists, were surprised by the rare and unexpected move.

The trial concerns a network accused of importing large quantities of cocaine from South America into Europe. The investigation began in 2020 after 3.2 tonnes of cocaine were seized in Rotterdam in a shipment destined for Antwerp. Bressers was arrested in Zurich in 2022 and extradited to Belgium later that year. De Carvalho, 67, was arrested in Hungary in 2023 and is also being held in Belgium.

^{#FlandersNewsService | Police during the previous hearing in September © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS}

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