Salah Abdeslam had been detained in Belgium since his trial for the Brussels attacks. Belgian justice had blocked his transfer to France, which requested him to serve his sentence for his participation in the November 13 attacks.
Salah Abdeslam was taken from his cell in Belgium and sent back to France, his lawyer said this Wednesday.
He had been detained in Belgium since his trial for the Brussels attacks. Belgian justice had blocked his transfer to France, which requested him to serve his sentence for his participation in the November 13 attacks.
Salah Abdeslam was sentenced to irreducible life imprisonment on June 29, 2022 after a nine-month trial before the Paris Special Assize Court. Since July 2022, he has been detained in Belgium after being handed over to the French authorities to be tried for his participation in the Brussels attacks committed in 2016. His return to France was to take place before October 12, 2023.
“Inhuman treatment”
Convicted by Belgium in September 2023 as co-perpetrator of the attacks which hit the Belgian capital in March 2016, Salah Abdeslam waived his right to appeal to the Court of Cassation, thus opening the way for a new transfer to France. But on October 3, the Brussels Court of Appeal granted the jihadist’s request to serve his sentence in Belgium.
Justice considered that Salah Abdeslam’s return to France “risks leading to a violation of Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights”. The ban is accompanied by “a fine of 10,000 euros” in the event of non-compliance. The mentioned articles of the European Convention relate to the prohibition of inflicting “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (art. 3) and the right of everyone to “respect for (their) private and family life” (art. 8).
Salah Abdeslam’s lawyers had argued in particular that the jihadist had all his family ties in Belgium. “Sending me to France is sending me to death,” the jihadist protested at the hearing.
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