A Belgian court has withdrawn Belgian citizenship from an extremist who had previously been convicted of recruiting fighters, in a rare move sought by Flemish nationalists to apply them more widely in "terrorism" cases.
Fouad Belkacem, 36, born in Belgium from Moroccan parents, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for leading a "terrorist group", the "Sharia of Belgium", which was active in sending fighters to Syria.
Belgian media reported that the Antwerp Court of Appeal had withdrawn its nationality on the basis of "its failure to fulfill its obligations as a Belgian citizen and its permanent threat to public security."
Lilian Fergo, a Belkacem lawyer, denounced the court's decision in the Dutch-speaking city and said it would restore his nationality.
"Usually the next step is to try to deport him to Morocco," she told AFP. "But his entire family in Belgium, his wife and four children are Belgian and he does not have a Moroccan passport."
In December 2017 Belgian citizenship was withdrawn from Malika al-Arud, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for leading a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda.
The Moroccan-Belgian bride is the widow of a Tunisian extremist who was killed in Afghanistan after he assassinated Afghan military commander Ahmed Shah Massoud.
Belgian Immigration Minister Theo Franken, who belongs to the Flemish National Party (FNI), welcomed the "remarkable decision" of the court. "This should be applied automatically to those convicted of terrorism," he said.
He recalled a draft law submitted by a politician from his party to automatically withdraw nationality from every Belgian with a second nationality and was convicted of terrorism.
