2016 Brussels attacks: Salah Abdeslam denounces ‘unfair’ process and refuses to participate

Salah Abdeslam, who has already been sentenced to life in prison without parole in France for the deadly November 13, 2015 attacks, today refused to appear in Brussels before a court accused of the March 2016 attacks in Belgium capital by the same jihadist cell, AFP reported.

The French jihadist, who is one of ten defendants in the trial, asked to be removed from the courtroom minutes after the hearing began at around 09:30 local time.

“The way you are treating us is unfair,” he said, referring to the conditions in which the defendants appear in court in individual glass boxes, compared to the “cages” built for their defense lawyers, and the restriction of communication between them.

Several lawyers were planning to seek their “removal” today.

This morning, the nine defendants required to appear before the court were all brought into the courtroom from prison (the tenth, presumed dead in Syria, is being tried in absentia).

But several of them immediately criticized these boxes after they appeared in court.

“We’re like dogs here,” shouted Tunisian Sofian Ayari, who helped Abdeslam escape, banging his fist on the wall of his box.

While he had initially expressed a desire to remain in the courtroom, Abdeslam, sporting a manicured beard and a blue and white striped polo shirt, changed his mind when he saw Mohammed Abrini, Sofian Ayari and other co-accused being led out of their box.

“I know it’s not your decision to make these boxes,” but because of that, “the process doesn’t start in a fair way.”

“Most of the defendants do not want to appear. Me too, I will go with them to the cells of the court building,” he added.

Only three agreed to stay.

On the morning of March 22, 2016, two jihadists blew themselves up at Brussels Zaventem International Airport and a third about an hour later in the European capital’s metro.

The toll of the attacks was 32 dead and more than 340 injured.

The trial, which is expected to last 6 to 9 months, poses a major challenge to Belgium’s judicial system, which is characterized by chronic understaffing and a lack of resources, Belga news agency reported.

In recent years, victims and victims’ organizations have repeatedly complained about insufficient and complex state support.

The trial will be held at the old NATO headquarters so there is enough room for the more than 900 plaintiffs and foreign journalists.

After today’s preliminary hearing, the court will meet again on October 10 to select the 12 jurors and their 24 possible replacements, with hearings starting on October 13 and lasting eight months, until June next year.

In today’s opening session, procedural issues were clarified, such as the witness list, which includes many survivors of the attacks.

RES-EMP

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