Belgian Jewish museum attack suspect denounces ‘intimidation’ of lawyers

BRUSSELS, Belgium — The French alleged jihadist accused of carrying out a gun massacre at Belgium’s Jewish Museum, on Thursday denounced any attempt to intimidate trial lawyers and jurors.

Appearing in the dock in Brussels’s main criminal court, 33-year-old Mehdi Nemmouche again denied shooting dead four people in the 2014 attack.

Speaking after a lawyer for one of the witnesses complained that his office had been burgled and a replica Kalashnikov was left on his desk, Nemmouche “condemned any act of intimidation.”

He has so far mainly maintained his silence during his trail for four “terrorist murders,” which began on January 10, but took the stand on Thursday.

“I say again that I am not the museum killer,” he said. Defense lawyers insist that evidence linking Nemmouche to the attack is weak and have hinted at a murky conspiracy.

On Wednesday, lawyer Vincent Lurquin complained that his laptop and two files had been stolen from his office, and a baseball bat and fake gun were left to intimidate him.

Lurquin represents attack survivor Clara Billeke Villalobos, an 81-year-old Chilean artist, who witnessed the killings and has testified during the case.

Nacer Bendrer, a 30-year-old fellow Frenchman who allegedly supplied Nemmouche with the Kalashnikov assault rifle and pistol used in the attack, also faces life in prison.

Investigators said Nemmouche attacked the museum shortly after returning from Syria, where he had allegedly fought with jihadists.

Six days after the attack, Nemmouche was arrested in the southern French port city of Marseille. Bendrer was arrested in Marseille in December 2014.

The trial is expected to end at the end of February or in early March.

Later Thursday, two Israeli women are due to testify about coming face-to-face for the first time with Nemmouche, who is accused of killing their parents, Miriam and Emmanuel Riva.