Osama Karim, one of the defendants in the November 13 2015 trial, was not present at today’s trial. The court was forced to continue to question him, so the trial was adjourned. The main defendant, Salah Abdeslam, has signed.
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And the channel “BFMTV” reported that Sweden’s Osama Karim was accused of helping make the explosive belt used in the attack. He has refused to appear in court since late November in protest at the fact that Belgian police officers testified via video and anonymously. So we’ll have to wait and see if he shows up today.
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The chief justice has appointed a record to deliver the summons. The trial was adjourned shortly after resuming at 12.55 WIB.
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Despite the subpoena, Karim refused to appear in court. President Jean-Louis Perrier has warned that he will call the police to ensure that Karim appears in court before asking police to refer the accused.
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Karim’s lawyer stated that his client had made the decision not to speak again until the end of the discussion. He read a letter from his client on Thursday, in which he called the operation an “illusion.” “When I saw how the discussions were going, I lost hope. There’s no one here to understand what’s going on and get an answer. I feel like we’re all faking it. I didn’t think today the fact that I came would come true. change anything. That’s why I decided not to express myself anymore.”
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Abdeslam’s health condition
Salah Abdel Salam was present, after he was tested positive for the Corona virus at the end of last December. From initial experience, the lawyer said, we remembered that Abdus Salam could attend the trial if the test result was negative, and on an adjusted schedule for the first two days. However, since then, Abdel Salam was again tested positive for the PCR test, but the expert assessed that the accused deserved to be presented. “This is a shift that discredits experts,” the defense said, according to BFMTV.
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So Abdel Salam’s lawyer believes that the trial should be adjourned until a new judgment is made, as the defendant continues to show “fatigue” related to Covid, as well as “difficulty breathing and coughing.” A suspension is also needed to avoid the risk of Abdeslam infecting the other defendants. “We’re in a box here with another box full of people and police officers,” the lawyer complained.
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The resumption of trials was initially postponed until January 13 due to Abdeslam’s infection with Corona, but due to new rules in France on quarantine, it was decided to resume today.
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the Paris attacks
Abdeslam is the sole survivor of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group responsible for the attacks that killed 130 people in Paris on November 13, 2015. He has not appeared in court since November 25 and tested positive for the coronavirus on December 27.
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Abdeslam is being held at Fleury-Meroges prison in the French province of Essonne, Europe’s largest prison, where several sources of infection have recently been identified. He was able to receive his lawyer in solitary confinement, as he was in daily contact with the guards.
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The Special Criminal Court will try twenty defendants by the end of May, and fourteen of them will attend trial. They are alleged to have been involved, to varying degrees, in preparing the deadliest jihadist attack in France.
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