But Thierry Werts, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor, acknowledged that the crime lab has “thousands and thousands of forensic evidence pieces” from terrorism investigations, including from the Paris network. Still, Mr. Abdeslam’s Belgian lawyer, Sven Mary, expressed consternation at the lack of security at a government facility housing the forensic evidence of thousands of cases. “How can a defendant demand a second opinion of forensic evidence that doesn’t exist anymore?” Mr. Mary said. The DNA laboratory of the Ghent University, which also does forensic research, was attacked in May 2005. In 2013, two people scaled the fence at a Belgian research reactor, broke into a laboratory and stole equipment.

Source: New York Times September 21, 2016 21:57 UTC