Salah Abdeslam (33), who faces a life sentence for his part in the March 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels, does not want to return to France after the trial and instead wants to serve his sentence in a Belgian prison, announced the French-speaking court of first instance in Brussels.
Abdeslam in 2022 received a life sentence from the special assize court for his role in the 13 November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris without the chance of ever being released, and has served most of his sentence in a French cell since his arrest on 18 March 2016.
Since July 2022, however, he has been behind bars in Belgium for the duration of the trial about the 2016 attacks in Brussels Airport and the Maelbeek metro station. At the end of July, Abdeslam was convicted by the jury as a co-perpetrator of the terrorist murders.
Following an interruption of more than a month, the trial will start again on Monday 4 September for the closing hearing and the pleas about the sentence.
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But now, Abdeslam has already made it clear that he opposes a return to France: on Monday 4 September at 14:00, a proceeding will be initiated against the Belgian state, Belga News Agency reports. The court added that more detailed information will follow on Friday at the latest.
Abdeslam's lawyers, Delphine Paci and Michel Bouchat, only wanted to confirm that the proceedings would take place on Monday at 14:00, De Standaard reports.
However, this means that the trial to determine the sentence for the eight convicted men will be temporarily suspended on Monday afternoon – only a few hours after it starts – for Abdeslam's proceedings to take place.
In addition to his life sentence for the Paris attacks, Abdeslam is also serving a 20-year prison sentence for a shooting on 15 March 2016 in Brussels, after an investigation team raided the building in which he was hiding.
