Sentences handed down for 2016 Belgian bombings

Among those sentenced was Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the cell that perpetrated the 2015 Paris attacks that killed 130

An artist's impression of Salah Abdeslam in court. AP

Six men were sentenced to terms of up to life in prison by a Belgian court on Friday for their roles in the 2016 bombings in Brussels that killed 32 people.

The men had been found guilty of murder and attempted murder in the twin bombings at Brussels airport and a third on the metro on March 22, 2016, Belga news agency reported.

Among those in court was Salah Abdeslam, the sole survivor of the cell that carried out the 2015 Paris attacks that killed 130 people.

The Belgian court ruled that Abdeslam's sentence of life in jail for his role in the Paris attacks and his 20-year sentence over a 2018 Brussels shooting were enough and he did not receive a further sentence.

Abdeslam, 34, and Belgian-Moroccan Mohamed Abrini – already sentenced to life in jail in France over the 2015 massacre in Paris – were the highest profile of the six men found guilty in July. Abrini was given a 30-year jail term.

Osama Krayem was handed a life sentence, as was Bilal El Makhoukhi and Oussama Atar, a senior ISIS commander who was tried in absentia and is presumed to have died in Syria in 2017.

Herve Bayingana Muhirwa, who was found guilty of “participating in the activities of a terrorist group”, was sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Abdeslam was transferred to Belgium from France last summer to be tried there for his role in the two ISIS-claimed attacks in Brussels.

He was found guilty in Brussels in July on all counts. At a sentencing hearing this week, he showed some remorse after previously saying those who had spoken against him in court were not his victims.

Abdeslam has always denied being involved in the planning of the Brussels attacks.

The trial took place in the specially modified former Nato headquarters north of the capital.