Paris terror suspect ‘should be acquitted’

SALEH ABDESLAM, the sole surviving suspect of the Paris terror attacks, must be acquitted of a shoot-out with Belgian police after court papers were issued in French rather than Dutch, his defence lawyer said.

Sven Mary argued that a counter-terror judge should have issued a document naming judges investigating the March 2016 gun battle in Dutch, because he serves in a Brussels court which is Dutch-speaking.

The “whole case” against Abdeslam, once Europe’s most wanted man, and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari “must be thrown out,” Mr Mary said yesterday.

Deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers in bilingual Belgium were often cited as a factor in the country’s widely criticised investigations into the Islamist terror cell behind the attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.

The shoot-out in Brussels left three police officers wounded, one jihadist dead, and led to Abdeslam’s capture three days later.

Abdeslam was yesterday accused of cowardice after refusing to appear on terror and attempted murder charges related to the shootout. His co-defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone flanked by masked police officers.

The court will hand down a verdict by April 29.