EL HASKI v. BELGIUM JUDGMENT 7 Lastly, the Belgian trial courts are by no means bound by those statements and remain free to decide on their relevance and accuracy.” ... (ii) Examination on the merits 39. In its judgment, the Court of Appeal began by showing that the GICM was a terrorist group within the meaning of Article 139 § 1 of the Criminal Code, explaining that it was an organised association of more than two people, established on a lasting basis, which engaged in concerted action for the purpose of committing terrorist offences covered by Article 137 of the Criminal Code. It observed in particular that the group had set up a coordination committee in Morocco and a number of cells in Europe, which had acted in a concerted manner to commit terrorist offences (in particular, homicide and widespread destruction or damage) with the aim of destroying by violence the fundamental structures of Morocco, so that the caliphate could be restored in that country, and of engaging in a holy war that would spread to other countries. 40. As regards, more specifically, the guilt of the applicant himself, the Court of Appeal first noted that “it [could] be seen with certainty from certain elements of the procedure” that he had taken part in the activity of a terrorist group, within the meaning of Article 140 § 1 of the Criminal Code, by taking a number of initiatives to facilitate transfers of funds that were necessary for the financing of the GICM’s unlawful activities, by circulating information about them and acting as a coordinator between the members of the Belgian and French cells, and that he was aware that such participation would contribute to the commission of a criminal offence. It thus concluded that there were a “number of sufficiently strong presumptions of fact”, with reference to the following evidence: - statements made by individuals interviewed in Morocco and information from the Moroccan authorities; - statements made by individuals interviewed in France; - statements made by the applicant, from which it transpired that he had participated in GICM meetings in Europe; - the fact that the applicant had made “a number of journeys in countries known for radical Islamist opinions developed by certain influential groups”, had “followed paramilitary training in Jalalabad” and had had “numerous contacts with individuals known for their close relations with extremist Islamist cells or active participation therein”; - the applicant’s participation in the extremist activities of Islamist groups that were active on an international scale, based on an international arrest warrant issued against him by the Moroccan authorities in connection with an investigation into terrorist activities, and on the fact that he had fled Saudi Arabia, where he was suspected of