Islamic State survivor refuses to talk, claiming court is biased
● Salah Abdeslam caught in Brussels four months after Paris terror attacks
The only surviving member of the Islamic State cell that attacked Paris in November 2015 has refused to rise for a Belgian court or answer questions about his actions.
Salah Abdeslam is on trial in his hometown of Brussels on charges of attempted murder over a police shoot-out.
A man who covered for his getaway with a spray of automatic gunfire during the shootout was killed.
Abdeslam’s escape was short lived.
He was captured on 18 March 2016 in the same area where he and many of his Islamic State fighter colleagues grew up.
Abdeslam arrived in the Belgian capital yesterday after being transferred from a prison in France.
Security was high at the Brussels courthouse.
There were armed guards and multiple checkpoints leading to the courtroom.
Abdeslam is being tried alongside a second defendant, Sofiane Ayari, in relation to the shootout.
The judge’s questions yesterday were around establishing which of the two had also fired on officers.
Asked why he was refusing to stand, Abdeslam said: “I’m tired, I did not sleep.”
Abdeslam, now wearing a full beard and longer hair than in pictures released before he was arrested, was flanked by masked guards.
He refused to answer questions beyond a few formalities.
“I do not wish to respond to any questions. I was asked to come. I came,” he said. “I defend myself by keeping silent.
“Muslims are judged and treated without pity.
“There is no presumption of innocence.
“I’m not afraid of you, I’m not afraid of your allies. I place my faith in Allah.”
Abdeslam has previously refused to speak to investigators in France about the attack
0 Armed soldiers patrol outside the court building in which 130 people were killed in November 2015.
Days after his capture, extremists struck in Brussels. In total, 162 people died in the two attacks.
The trial relates to the 2016 shooting in Brussels, some four months after the Paris attacks.
Abdeslam and two suspects were hiding in an apartment when police arrived for a routine search.
Three officers were wounded in the shootout that followed and one suspect was killed. Abdeslam was captured a few days later in the Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek.
Guillaume Denoix de Saint Marc, a member of victims’ association V-europe, said: “We want to see what elements will be provided in order to have a better understanding of this series of events and terror attacks, in France and in Belgium.
“This trial is one of the pieces of a global puzzle, which will answersomeofourquestions. But at the same time we expect to be very disappointed and to learn nothing.”
French prosecutors have claimed Abdeslam played a key role in the Paris attacks, in which gunmen and suicide bombers targeted a concert hall, stadium, restaurants and bars, killing 130 people and injuring hundreds more.
He became Europe’s most wanted man after the mass killings. His capture in Brussels came four months after the Paris strikes.
The defendant’s brother, Brahim, was among the Paris attackers and died in a suicide blast outside a cafe.
Abdeslam is not expected to go on trial in France until 2019 at the earliest.
He and suspected accomplice Ayari, 24, have been accused of possessing illegal weapons and the attempted murder of police officers in a terrorist context.
They face up to 40 years in prison if found guilty.
Ayari told the court yesterday he had fought for the jihadist group Islamic State in Syria, and that he and Abdeslam were present during the stand-off.