Salah Abdeslam was released from the Fleury-Mérogis Prison (Essonne, France) Wednesday morning, as he will be transferred to Belgium, where he will be tried for the terrorist attacks in Brussels in March 2016, according to sources close to the matter.
The Brussels-born French citizen was picked up from prison and transported to an airport, where he will depart by plane to Belgium. The location of his transfer will not be disclosed for security reasons.
Abdeslam is the last living member of the Islamist hit squad that killed 130 people in Paris and Saint-Denis on November 13 2015.
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This group was part of a terrorist cell, which also attacked Belgium on 22 March 2016. Two attacks were conducted at Brussels Airport, and one at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels. 32 civilians and three perpetrators died, and over 300 were injured. Another bomb was found during a search of the airport.
Another marathon trial
Abdeslam was sentenced on 29 June to life in prison with no possibility of release by a criminal court in Paris. He did not appeal the verdict. He is the fifth man in France to be sentenced to life imprisonment, the most severe penalty in France, making the possibility of release minimal.
Upon transfer to Belgium, he will the be incarcerated in a Belgian prison before beginning a new judicial marathon from 12 September for the attacks in Brussels.
The case will take place in Justitia, a courthouse building, in the former NATO premises in Evere, and could last six to eight months, according to the federal prosecutor's office.
