Belgian terrorist suspect arrested in Budapest

Acting on an international warrant issued by the Belgian authorities, a 29-year-old woman wanted on suspicion of terrorism has been arrested at the Népliget bus station, the Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) said on its website on Friday.

The suspect was taken into custody on Wednesday evening and taken to court for an extradition hearing on Friday, the website said. The Municipal Court later in the day approved in a binding ruling the extradition to Belgian authorities of a Belgian-Moroccan woman wanted on an international warrant, the court’s press department said in a statement, noting that the criteria defined in the warrant were in place.

The warrant was issued by a French-language lower court of Brussels on charges of participation in the activities of a terrorist group and leaving the territory of the country with the aim to carry out or support a terrorist act, the department said. “Based on available data, the woman can be explicitly suspected of seeking to visit a terrorist group active in a Syrian field of operation,” it said. The maximum term for crimes included in the warrant is ten years in prison, said the department. The suspect agreed in the court to her extradition in a simplified procedure which according to the ruling must follow by January 16.