 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(March 2025) |
 Nizar Trabelsi in custody | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nizar ben Abdelaziz Trabelsi | ||
| Date of birth | (1970-07-02)2 July 1970 (age 55) | ||
| Place of birth | Sfax, Tunisia | ||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1987–1989 | CS Sfaxien | ||
| 1989–1990 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 1 | (1) |
| 1989–1990 | Fortuna Düsseldorf II | ||
| 1992 | Borussia Wuppertaler | ||
| 1992 | 1. FC Wülfrath | ||
| 1993 | SV 09/35 Wermelskirchen | 1 | (0) |
| 1993–1994 | VfR Neuss | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Nizar ben Abdelaziz Trabelsi (born 2 July 1970) is a Tunisian former professionalfootballer. In 2003, a Belgian court convicted and sentenced Trabelsi to ten years' imprisonment for his association withAl-Qaeda, and for a variety of crimes, including attempting to destroy the military baseKleine Brogel Air Base.[1][2] After serving his time he was sent to the United States to be prosecuted for terrorism and was cleared by a federal jury in July 2023. Trabelsi was imprisoned in the U.S until he was extradited back to Belgium in 2025 where he was released.[3]
Considered a talent of Tunisian football, Trabelsi started his career athometown clubCS Sfaxien.[4]
Trabelsi then moved to Germany to play forFortuna Düsseldorf, however Fortuna quickly deemed him to be unsuitable for professional football.[4] He then moved toWuppertaler SV, before playing for amateur clubs 1. FC Wülfrath, SV 09/35 Wermelskirchen and VfR Neuss, as amidfielder.[5] Shortly afterwards, he disappeared from football altogether.[4]
Trabelsi had traveled to Afghanistan and metOsama bin Laden on several occasions.[6] In 2001, Trabelsi was suspected ofplotting to attack a US embassy in Paris, which was uncovered and stopped.[1] He was said to be the designated suicide bomber, and was to wear a business suit to conceal the strapped bomb onto himself before walking into the embassy.[7]
Trabelsi was arrested in an apartment, inUccle nearBrussels, Belgium on 13 September 2001.[4] He was also implicated by BritonSaajid Badat, who alleged that both of them had conspired withRichard Reid supposedly to blow up two US-bound airliners using shoe bombs simultaneously.[8]
In 2003, Trabelsi was sentenced to a ten-year prison term in Belgium,[1] for plotting to attack theKleine Brogel Air Base.[9] He was also found guilty of illegal weapons possession and being a member in a private militia. On 3 October 2013, he was extradited to the United States.[10]
The United States had requested that Belgium extradite Trabelsi, given that American military personnel were present at the base. Trabelsi challenged that request in Belgium, contending that his extradition would violate the Extradition Treaty Between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Belgium of 1987. Belgium disagreed and extradited Trabelsi to the United States.[11]
In September 2014, theEuropean Court of Human Rights found that his deportation was performed in violation ofArticle 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and ordered Belgium to pay 60,000 euros in damages to Trabelsi.[12][13]
Trabelsi was extradited to the United States in October 2013, after he completed his sentence in Belgium.[14] He was kept ten years in solitary confinement, awaiting trial.[6] On 14 July 2023, he was found not guilty in an American federal court.[9] Despite the outcome of this trial, Trabelsi remains to be held in jail, also in solitary confinement, in what he calls "a black hole". The cell measures 3.5 by 3.5 meters, the light is burning constantly, and he is only allowed to leave the cell for one hour per day. The European Court of Human Rights has on multiple occasions convicted the governments of Belgium for the circumstances Trabelsi has been living in since his deportation.
Despite being cleared by a U.S. federal jury in July 2023, Nizar Trabelsi did not receive financial compensation from the U.S. because the government immediately transferred him to immigration detention. Instead of releasing him, the U.S. held him until his eventual return to Belgium. In the U.S., financial compensation is not typically awarded to foreign nationals acquitted of criminal charges, especially when immigration issues are involved.
Trabelsi's lack of compensation is linked to several factors:[15]
As a consequence of these rulings, national courts in Brussels have demanded for Trabelsi to be extradited back to Belgium, with a penalty for the federal government of Belgium of up to €200.000 if this demand is not met.[16][17]
Despite being acquitted, Trabelsi remained in a US prison until 2025, when the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenges the legality of Trabelsi's detention, citing violations of the U.S.-Belgium Extradition Treaty, U.S. immigration law, and the U.S. Constitution. He returned to Belgium on August 8, 2025 and was freed on October 22, 2025 by the Belgian federal authorities after an unsuccessful bid by the government to extradite him to Tunisia, his country of origin, which was rejected on humanitarian grounds by the Council chamber of Brussels and the Council for Alien Law Litigation, an independent administrative court. His lawyer declared to the press on that day: "My client has no ill will towards the Belgian society and simply wants a chance to build his life again, and return to Tunisia one day, but not before ensuring that he won't be arrested and tortured by the Tunisian authorities."[3]
Trabelsi admitted planning to drive a car bomb into the canteen of the Kleine Brogel air base, a Belgian military post used by NATO where U.S. troops are stationed.
As for Trabelsi, after serving his prison term, he was extradited to the United States and left Belgian custody in October 2013. He has since been awaiting trial in Washington, D.C. federal court.
People listed initalics have died. | |
| Toulouse and Montauban shootings | |
| 2013 La Défense attack |
|
| January 2015 Île-de-France attacks | |
| Allegedal-Qaeda associates | |
| AllegedGIA associates | |
| AllegedGICM associates | |
| Held inGuantanamo Bay | |
| ISIS fighters | |
| Others | |
1 Currently imprisoned. 2 Released after serving sentence. | |
People listed initalics have died. | |
| Iraqi insurgency | |
| Held inGuantanamo Bay | |
| Others | |
1 Currently imprisoned. 2 Released after serving sentence. | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
