GERMAN POLICE CALL FOR LEGAL CANNABIS USE.
BRUSSELS • Saleh Abdelslam, the last surviving suspect of the 2015 Paris terror attacks, accused European courts of being prejudiced against Muslims and refused to answer questions on the first day of his trial in Belgium Monday.
“My silence does not make me a criminal, it’s my defence,” he said, after claiming he put his trust in Allah and that Muslims were “judged mercilessly” in Europe.
“I am not afraid of you, I am not afraid of your allies,” Abdelslam, 28, told the court, where he is on trial over the shootout that led to his capture.
Sitting flanked by two masked counter-terrorism policemen, he added: “Let them base their case on forensic and tangible evidence, and not swagger about to satisfy public opinion.
“What I notice is that Muslims are judged and treated in the worst kind of ways. They are judged without mercy. There is no presumption of innocence, there’s nothing.”
Abdelslam has refused to speak to investigators throughout almost two years held in isolation and under 24-hour video surveillance at Fleury-Merogis prison in France since his arrest after a four-month manhunt that ended three days after the March 15, 2016 gun battle in the Forest district of Brussels that is the focus of the trial.
The Belgian-born French national of Moroccan descent insisted on attending the Brussels trial, raising hopes he would use it to break his silence and surrender clues about the Paris attacks that killed 130 people and the Brussels suicide bombings months later.
However, Abdelslam dashed those hopes and refused to stand in court, claiming he was too tired.
Philippe Duperron, whose son was killed at the Bataclan music hall in Paris and who now chairs a families’ association, said: “Not only did he say he is retreating into silence, but he is clearly trying to provoke people by saying he believes only in his God.”
Abdelslam and Sofiane Ayari, 24, a Tunisian national, face terrorism charges of attempted murder of police officers and carrying banned weapons over the gun battle in 2016.
Three police officers were wounded and a jihadist was killed in the shootout, which came as Abdeslam, who has refused to allow photos or videos to be taken of him during the trial, was on the run four months after the Paris attacks.
The three-hour standoff ended with marksmen killing Mohamed Belkaid, 35, an Algerian.