Europe’s most wanted man vows silence at shoot-out trial
SALEH ABDELSLAM, once Europe’s most wanted man and 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 yesterday.
“My silence does not make me a criminal, it’s my defence,” he said, after claiming that he had 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 shoot-out that led to his capture.
Sitting flanked by two armed and masked counter-terrorism policemen, his black hair and beard long, 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 24hour video surveillance at Fleurymerogis 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, who wore a white polo shirt, dashed those hopes yesterday 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 was transported by elite police officers in a midnight convoy from his cell in the prison near Paris to the imposing Palais De Justice court building in Brussels, which has been transformed into a fortress for the trial.
About 200 police were inside, carrying out stringent security checks on everyone entering the building. A sniffer dog checked the austere courtroom itself, into which journalists were banned from taking phones and computers. A helicopter circled above, with more armed police outside.
Abdelslam will be transferred between the Belgian court and a French prison, just across the border, every night of the four-day trial. He 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 March 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 stand-off ended with marksmen killing Mohamed Belkaid, 35, an Algerian. Police found arms and, crucially, Abdeslam’s DNA, which led to his arrest. Prosecutors say he and Ayari fled the Forest flat while Belkaid held off police. Ayari’s defence yesterday was that he and Abdeslam were bystanders and did not open fire before fleeing. Abdeslam was captured with Ayari at his home in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek three days later, after being shot in the leg by police.
The two men could serve up to 40 years in prison if convicted in the trial, which is a prelude to a later French trial over the terror attacks in Paris.
Investigators believe Abdeslam’s capture caused members of his jihadist cell to bring forward plans for the attacks in Brussels. Suicide attacks on March 22, 2016, killed 32 people at Brussels airport and a metro station.
‘What I notice is that Muslims are judged and treated in the worst kind of ways’