Judgment concerning Belgium
In the case of Khattab v. Belgium the Court held that there had been no violation of the right to a fair trial.
The application concerned the applicant’s conviction in absentia on appeal and the dismissal of his action to have that judgment set aside.
After being convicted at first instance in Belgium for participating in the activities of a terrorist group in Syria, the applicant lodged an appeal and then left Belgium without letting the authorities know. He subsequently did not attend the hearings before the Brussels Court of Appeal and was convicted in absentia. Before the European Court, he complained about his conviction in absentia, arguing that he had been detained in Türkiye after being arrested at the Syrian border carrying false documents.
The Court considered that the Belgian authorities could not be held responsible for the applicant’s voluntary decision to travel to Syria, which he had made despite the fact that the trip would inevitably jeopardise his participation in the appeal hearing and the preparation of his defence. The applicant could have reasonably foreseen the consequences of his actions. The Court further found that the Belgian courts had carefully examined the reasons given by the applicant to justify his failure to appear before them and had rejected them in duly reasoned decisions that did not appear arbitrary. They had observed, in particular, that the applicant had freely chosen to put himself in the situation that was allegedly in breach of Article 6 of the Convention. Accordingly, the domestic courts could not be criticised for refusing to re-examine the case on appeal.