The prime suspect in the mega-trial surrounding the 2015 Paris attacks has stood up for three co-defendants. Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving suspect, stated that although the trio helped him, they were not aware of plans to carry out a massacre.
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“They are in prison, but they have done nothing,” Abdeslam said of his co-defendants. When it was discussed which victims’ representatives could speak, Abdeslam asked if ‘the victims of Syria and Iraq’ could also speak. He began an emotional speech before accusing the court of bias when the chairman turned off his microphone. “Don’t be selfish, Mr. Chairman.”
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The chairman decided to adjourn the hearing after these statements. “You have had five years to respond, which you have not,” replied the chairman. “I understand that you want to do that now, but now is not the time for that.”
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Provocative
Yesterday, on the first day of the trial, Abdeslam was also there. Then he was also provocative. He stated that he was an ‘Islamic State soldier’ when asked about his profession. He later complained that suspects were treated ‘like dogs’.
Abdeslam, 31, was part of a group of attackers that killed 130 people in Paris in November 2015. He later threw away his suicide vest and was able to flee to Belgium. The police arrested him there in 2016.
The trial is expected to last nine months. The verdict is expected at the end of May. With a file of nearly a million pages, 330 lawyers and 300 victims being heard, the case is the largest in modern French history.
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