A key member of the terrorist cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks has been granted multiple temporary prison leaves and could soon be eligible for conditional release.
Mohamed Bakkali was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a French court in 2022 for helping coordinate the attacks that killed 130 people and injured hundreds more at the Bataclan theatre and across the city.
Bakkali was extradited to Belgium in 2018, where he also received a 25-year sentence for planning an attack on a Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris.
Belgian prosecutors said a Brussels court had decided Bakkali could be temporarily released from the Ittre maximum-security prison, despite their opposition. The decision is final and cannot be appealed.
According to reports, the leave periods are a preliminary step toward parole under electronic monitoring.
The decision has sparked backlash in both Belgium and France. A French lawyer called it "a slap in the face to the victims." A member of the European Parliament from France's far-right National Rally party described it as "a huge middle finger to French justice."
In Belgium, a Reformist Movement MP said the decision was "turning one's back on the memory of the victims."
Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden defended the decision, stating it was granted after a thorough review and under strict conditions.