A random interview shows that terrorist Abdeslam found police checks difficult

Although Abdeslam had already mentioned in the taped prison conversations that he had been interviewed by a TV reporter at the Belgian-French border, that conversation could never be traced. It now appears that he was recorded for a radio report.

Only the short fragment that was broadcast on the radio the next day has survived. “This is the third. Third check. To be honest, we find it a bit annoying”, the three occupants of the arrested car say together. “But we have now understood its usefulness.”

RTBF journalist Charlotte Legrand can still remember the meeting, she tells the VRT. “There were three young men in the car who looked very tired. Their faces looked tired. The person in the back had a thick coat or blanket around him.”

“They weren’t very sympathetic, but they answered my questions. Once their ID was done, they ended the conversation and closed their car windows again.”

Lawsuits

A prosecutor later explained that the officers conducting the check had not yet received all the investigative information. They had asked Belgian colleagues for clarification, but due to all the hectic, that data was only provided about two hours later.

Abdeslam would remain free until March 18 of the following year. He was arrested four days before a series of attacks in Brussels after an exchange of gunfire with the police. He is now sentenced to 20 years in prison for the violent resistance to his arrest.

The trial over the attacks in France will start on Wednesday. In addition to Abdeslam, nineteen suspects are on trial. Abdeslam is also being prosecuted in the lawsuit over the bombings in Belgium. No date has yet been announced.

A look back at the attacks in Paris:

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