Europe1 .fr with AFP 09:10, October 24, 2023

Two men were indicted on Monday on charges of criminal terrorist association and complicity in murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, as part of the investigation into the Brussels attack. On October 16, a man shot dead two Swedish fans a few hours before a Euro 2024 football qualifying match.

Two men, domiciled in the Paris region and "likely to be linked to the perpetrator of the attack" committed on October 16 in Brussels, have been indicted by a Paris investigating judge, AFP learned Tuesday from the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office.

Indicted on Monday

Brought before an investigating judge on Monday, they were charged with criminal terrorist association and complicity in murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, then placed in pre-trial detention, the PNAT added.

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Both Tunisians, they are in their 40s and 50s, sources close to the case added. The one of forty years, who "has lived for nearly twenty years in France", "formally contests" the accusations, assured his counsel.

"He has nothing to do with the attack," said Souleymen Rakrouki. The assailant "is a friend he had known for a long time, of whom he had not seen any sign of radicalization. He could never have imagined such a move to action," he insisted.

An investigation opened in Paris following information provided by the Belgian justice system

When contacted, the fifty-year-old's lawyers, Pierre-Henri Baert and Louise Hennon, did not wish to comment. According to PNAT, investigations are "continuing to clarify their links" with Abdesalem Lassoued, a 45-year-old radicalized Tunisian, who killed two Swedes when they came to support their national football team in Belgium.

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The assailant, who had been the target of an extradition request from Tunisia for more than a year, was shot dead on 17 October by Belgian police. In Paris, an investigation was opened on 17 October, following information "transmitted by the Belgian judicial authorities", the PNAT said.

Four people "likely to be linked to the perpetrator of the attack" were arrested on Thursday in Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire and the Paris region, the PNAT added. Of the four, two police custody has been lifted.