Brussels Jewish Museum Terrorist Sentenced to Life in Jail Mehdi Nemmouche, who was convicted of killing four people, receives the maximum possible sentence By Daniel Michaels
https://www.wsj.com/articles/brussels-jewish-museum-terrorist-sentenced-to-life-in-jail-11552385511
BRUSSELS—A French-Algerian man found guilty last week of murder in a terrorist shooting at the Jewish Museum of Brussels was sentenced to life in prison, concluding the first conviction of a European who joined Islamic State in Syria and returned to stage attacks.
Mehdi Nemmouche, 33, who was convicted Thursday of killing four people in May 2014, received the maximum possible sentence, but could be released from prison under surveillance in as soon as 15 years.
“Life goes on,” Nemmouche said in court before the sentence was read, according to Belgian state broadcaster RTBF.
Nemmouche’s accomplice, Nacer Bendrer, was sentenced to 15 years for supplying him with the weapons for the attack. He could be released after five years.
The decision, reached after roughly eight hours of deliberation, was read out late Monday night, according to RTBF.
The European Jewish Congress said “this appropriate sentence sends a message that terror and anti-Semitic attacks will be judged to the fullest extent of the law.”
In surveillance videos, some shown at the trial, a masked attacker identified by prosecutors as Nemmouche carried two duffel bags into the museum. He pointed a gun and shot an Israeli couple. He then shot a 25-year-old museum employee in the reception area. When trying to shoot his fourth victim, a French retiree, his handgun jammed, giving her time to press a panic button and lock the door. Nemmouche then pulled out a machine gun, shot the door open and killed her. The attack lasted little over one minute.
Two daughters of the Israeli couple, Miriam and Emmanuel Riva, traveled from Israel to testify at the trial about the ordeal of being orphaned in their teens. They said their parents, both in their early 50s, had picked Brussels as a weekend destination to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary.
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