Inside the Belgian Town at the Center of the Paris Attacks Investigation

4 minute read

In the days following the terror attacks that left 129 people dead in Paris, the investigation turned toward a small suburb of Brussels, Belgium, in Molenbeek – a town with a history of Islamic extremism.

In addition to recent police raids in the town targeting suspects linked to the Paris attacks, one participant in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which killed 191, was tied to the suburb, and the alleged terrorist behind a 2014 shooting at the Jewish Museum in Belgium also spent time in Molenbeek. The French train attacker, stopped by three Americans and one Brtish passenger earlier this year, had stayed in Molenbeek before his assault.

Why has this small section of Brussels amassed such an ignominious resume? Sebastien Van Malleghem, a Belgian photographer, may have some insight. In 2011, Van Malleghem was in Molenbeek, at the start of a four-year project on law and order in his native country. “I was following police officers in what is called Brussels West, a part of the capital that is considered, by authorities, as a hotspot,” he tells TIME. “The crime rate there tends to be higher than in other neighborhoods.”

Part of Van Malleghem’s work was to question the relationship between police forces and the people of Molenbeek. “I wanted to understand why there’s, at times, this tension between them,” he says. “I wanted to see how the police worked and how people reacted to it.”

Despite Molenbeek’s difficult past with Islamic extremism, architecturally and socially, the area “looks like any other city in and around Brussels,” says Van Malleghem. “It does have, however, a higher density of immigrants and a higher rate of unemployment. As a result, the crime rate is higher.”

But, it’s far from being the No-Go Zone that some media organizations have made it sound like, says the photographer. “I think we need to find the right balance when we talk about Molenbeek,” Van Malleghem says. “On the one hand, I’m not surprised to learn that there’s a group of people meeting up in Molenbeek to plot such attacks. But, at the same time, it could have happened in any other part of Brussels or Belgium.”

He adds: “It’s not because there are a lot of Arabs in Molenbeek that they’re all terrorists and that a woman can’t walk around without her veil. That’s just not true. But, of course, since the poverty rate is higher there, things can take a turn for the worse quicker than in other parts of town.”

And, as Van Malleghem’s photographs show, police officers are well aware of that fact. “The policemen I followed loved their job and were fair, making quick, clear and clean decisions,” he says. “But they weren’t the type of men who tried to understand the roots of what was going on socially in this neighborhood.”

The brigade also lacked resources and support from the justice system. “Often, these cops would arrest someone and find that person back on the streets the next day because there were no space in prison,” says the photographer. “These cops were frustrated, and that would affect their work and their attitude toward the local population.”

Sebastien Van Malleghem is a freelance photographer based in Belgium. His first photobook, Police, is available on his website.

Alice Gabriner, who edited this photo essay, is TIME’s International Photo Editor.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitterand Instagram @olivierclaurent

A policewomen searching for evidence in the bad area of Molenbeek, Brussels, Belgium on February 2011
A policewomen searching for evidence in Molenbeek, a heavily immigrant district in Brussels, Belgium. Feb. 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem
Police
A burned car in the streets of Molenbeek, Brussels. Jan. 28, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem
A Police woman search a women in the middle of the street after a call for a street fight. Brussels Ouest ( Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Koekelberg, Jette, Ganshoren et Berchem-Sainte-Agathe), Belgium on January 28, 2010.
A police officer searches a women in the middle of the street after a report of a street fight, Brussels. Jan. 28, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem
Police
A suicide scene in Molenbeek, in the north of Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 1, 2011. Sébastien Van Malleghem
A policeman enters in the kitchen of a private home follwing a call for a family fight in Molenbeek, Brussels on December 2011.
A policeman enters the kitchen of a private home, following a call advising of a family fight in Molenbeek, Brussels, Dec. 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem
Police
An old woman lays on the floor of her apartment in Molenbeek, Belgium, Feb. 25, 2010. The police was called for an unresponsive old woman, who fell from a chair and couldn't wake up.Sébastien Van Malleghem
Police
Policemen search apartment numbers on the intercom of a building in Molenbeek, Brussels, Belgium on Feb 1, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem
Police
Body search of a suspect by the civilian branch of the police, in a police station in Molenbeek, Brussels. Apr. 7, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem
Police
A cop is taking fingerprints of a woman in the police station of Brussels West, Molenbeek, Belgium. Feb 25, 2010. She was involved in a fight at a snack bar. Sébastien Van Malleghem
Police
Cops are preparing documents they will work on during the night, Molenbeek, Brussels, Belgium. Feb. 1, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem
One of the biggest drug (haschich) caught of the year by the civilian branch of the Brussels Ouest Police ( covering the cities of  Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Koekelberg, Jette, Ganshoren et Berchem-Sainte-Agathe) in Brussels on May 2010.
One of the biggest loads of hashish seized by the civilian branch of the Brussels West Police, Molenbeek, Brussels, May, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem
Packs of drugs found in the pocket of a drug dealer caught earlier. Thepacks of drugs will be placed in a security bag and will serve later for evidence to prove that the person was selling drugs. Central Police Station of Brussels Ouest, Molenbeek on March 2011.
Packs of drugs found in the pocket of a drug dealer. Central Police Station of Brussels Ouest, Molenbeek, Brussels, n March 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem
View from the window of the back seat of a police car driving trough the city of Molenbeek, Brussels Ouest District, Belgium on December 2011.
View from the back seat window of a police car driving trough the city of Molenbeek, Brussels Ouest District, Belgium, Dec. 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem
Police
An arrest is made after police officers searched a place suspected to be a "storage house" for drug dealers. Brussels West, Belgium. Feb. 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem
Call for alarm with possible suspects present inside a private building of the city of Jette. The Police from Brussels Ouest was searching the surrounding, armed in case of face to face with armed criminals. Brussels Ouest Police Disctrict covers the cities of  Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Koekelberg, Jette, Ganshoren et Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, in Brussels on January 2010.
A police officer approaches a building after receiving an alert that potential suspects were holed up inside the building in Jette, Brussels. Jan. 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem

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