1985 Liège bombing

Bombing in Liège, Belgium 1985 Liège bombing Liège, Wallonia, Belgium 6 December 1985 50 38 45.83 N 5 34 23.69 E type:event_scale:1000_region:BE inline,title 3:00 pm Bomb 1 2 Jean-Michel Systermans On 6 December 1985, a bomb exploded in Palais de Justice, the main courthouse of the city of Liège in Belgium. The explosion took place shortly before hundreds of lawyers including Belgian Justice Minister Jean Gol would attend a swearing-in ceremony.https://www.apnews.com/6b03d6d65c5c81309264c187c905abe0 URGENT Two Explosions Hit Court of Justice in Liege, Killing at Least One Person The bomb severely damaged three floors and collapsed the ceiling of the 16th century palace.https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/07/world/bomb-blast-in-belgium-kills-one.html Bomb Blast in Belgium Kills One APhttps://newspaperarchive.com/medicine-hat-news-dec-06-1985-p-1/ Medicine Hat News Newspaper Archives, Dec 6, 1985 6 December 1985 Philippe Balis, a 20-year-old law student, was killed in the blast. The attack took place just hours after Communist Combatant Cells terrorists bombed a NATO pipeline in Oudenaarde, a place in Flanders, and in France. However the courthouse and pipeline attacks were not linked.https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/08/world/25-wounded-by-bombs-at-2-paris-department-stores.html 25 Wounded by Bombs at 2 Paris Department Stores Judith Miller and Special To the New York Times Perpetrator Jean-Michel Systermans, a lawyer in his fifties, was arrested on 16 June 1987 after three bombs were discovered in a bank vault under his name. Systermans was previously suspended from the Conseil de l'Ordre in 1980 and afterwards sentenced for embezzlement and then forgery, before carrying out his attack on the courthouse. At court accused of manslaughter, Systermans confessed that he was the perpetrator of the bombing.https://www.digibron.nl/search/detail/012e94c1e3e7f98ceaabc546/belgische-advocaat-bekent-bomaanslag Belgische advocaat bekent bomaanslag – Digibron.nl 6 August 1987 Systermans had previously been the lawyer of several Liège arms dealers.https://bendevannijvel.com/andere/zaak-ccc/feiten/6/ Feiten : Bende van Nijvel bendevannijvel.com He was sentenced to death in 1991 (although the last execution in the country was back in 1950) and later got a prison sentence. His accomplice, Francis Reynders, was sentenced to life.http://www.sudinfo.be/art/259647/article/regions/huy-waremme/actualite/2011-12-14/la-tuerie-de-liege-32-ans-apres-le-cross-de-hannut La tuerie de Liège, 32 ans après le cross de Hannut In 2000 Systermans was released on parole from the detention centre.http://www.lesoir.be/archive/recup/%252Fl-attentat-au-palais-de-justice-de-liege-les-portes-de-_t-20000401-Z0J1UT.html L'attentat au Palais de justice de Liège. Les portes de la prison vont se rouvrir pour Systermans René Haquin Le Soir fr 2018-07-14 See also Brabant killers References Category:1985 building bombings Category:May 1985 in Europe Category:Building bombings in Belgium Category:History of Liège Category:1985 murders in Belgium Category:Terrorist incidents in Belgium in the 1980s Category:Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1985 Category:Attacks on government buildings and structures in Europe Category:Attacks on courthouses