Jejoen Bontinck arrested at Brussels Airport
Jejoen Bontinck is a crown witness in the trial against Sharia4Belgium, the extremist organisation that is facing charges of recruiting youngsters for extremist jihadist organisations and having them join the war in the Middle East.
Jejoen Bontinck was one of those youngsters and became a public figure in Flanders when his father, Dimitri, travelled to Syria to trace him down and take him back home again. The father risked his life, but the mediatised attempt eventually failed and he came home empty-handed. Jejoen later managed to return to Belgium on his own. He was arrested, but claimed that he never joined the armed battle in Syria.
This morning, he was apprehended at Brussels Airport as he was trying to take a flight to Turkey. He was accompanied by his girlfriend despite a ban to see her. In November, an examining magistrate forbade him to have contact with the girl, after she had pressed charges against him for assault and battery. The two apparently patched things up and were going to Turkey.
Their lawyer claims they wanted to spend a last-minute holiday there, but Turkey is also the gateway to Syria for those willing to fight there.
Father Dimitri Bontinck is furious
The verdict in the court case against Sharia4Belgium is expected in the following weeks. The public prosecutor demanded a four-year sentence for Jejoen Bontinck, despite his cooperation with the judicial authorities. He is an accused but at the same time also a victim in the case, says his father Dimitri. He is outrageous because of the sentence demanded for his son, while at the same time Jejoen's declarations helped the investigation a great deal.
Speaking to the VRT on Sunday evening, Dimitri Bontinck lashed out against the Belgian authorities. He claims that Belgium is giving his son the cold shoulder. He even suggested his son could take back everything he declared during the trial. Considering the importance of his statements, this would deal a heavy blow to the public prosecutor's case. He finished the interview by saying: "If this goes wrong, it's all your fault (of the media, red)!"