Paris attacks suspect refuses to cooperate
BRUSSELS (Reuters) — The prime surviving suspect in the Islamic State (IS) attacks in Paris that killed 130 people refused to answer questions when his trial for a later shooting incident opened on Monday in Belgium, defying his accusers and relatives of the victims.
In his first appearance since his capture four months after the November 2015 attacks in the French capital, Salah Abdeslam urged the court not to pander to anti-Muslim prejudice as he went on trial for a shootout with police in his native Brussels.
His black hair shaggy and beard long, a contrast to the slick, clean-shaven young man last seen on wanted posters across Europe, the 28-year-old former barkeeper faces trial in France next year. And he is not charged over Islamist suicide bombings which struck Brussels four days after he was arrested.
“I am accused, so I am here,” he told the judge after arriving under heavy police escort from Paris.
Refusing to stand or to answer questions, he said: “My silence does not make me a criminal or guilty. That is my defense and I am defending myself by remaining silent.”
Reciting the Islamic profession of faith and flanked by two masked Belgian counter-terrorism police officers, he said Muslims were treated “without mercy” and presumed guilty:
“Judge me. Do as you want with me,” he added. “It is in my Lord that I place my trust. I am not afraid of you.”
He complained of being tired, but his voice was firm as he spoke after a morning listening to his co-accused, who admitted to being with Abdeslam during the March 15, 2016, shootout and to have fought with IS in Syria.