RELIGION

Suspect in Belgium's Jewish museum attack claims innocence

Associated Press
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Lawyers attend the trial of Mehdi Nemmouche at the Justice Palace in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. The defense lawyer Thursday is summing up the case for Nemmouche, who is charged with “terrorist murder” over the 2014 slaying of an Israeli couple and two employees at the Jewish museum in Brussels, about a week before the verdict is expected to be handed down.(AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, Pool)

Lawyer for the accused, Sebastien Courtoy, center, attends the trial of Mehdi Nemmouche at the Justice Palace in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. The defense lawyer Thursday is summing up the case for Nemmouche, who is charged with “terrorist murder” over the 2014 slaying of an Israeli couple and two employees at the Jewish museum in Brussels, about a week before the verdict is expected to be handed down.(AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, Pool)

A suspected jihadi says he's innocent of terrorism charges over the killings of four people at Belgium's Jewish museum as the jury in his trial prepares to consider its verdict.

Weeks after telling the Brussels criminal court that he would reveal the truth "when the time is right," Mehdi Nemmouche on Tuesday said only that he was "trapped" into involvement in the 2014 slaying.

In remarks that lasted less than 20 seconds, Nemmouche said: "If I could change things, I would change everything."

The 12-member jury is set to hand down its verdict on Thursday. In a secret ballot, the jury must decide by a majority vote whether Nemmouche is guilty of four counts of terrorist murder.

He could face up to 30 years in prison.