The trial against the Paris attacks was interrupted after the main defendant challenged the judge

PARIS, Sept. 9 (Reuters) – The main suspect in the 2015 Islamist attack that killed 130 people in Paris disrupted the trial for the second day in a row on Thursday for making political statements from the dock, prompting the judge he briefly suspended his sight.

Prosecutors believe Salah Abdeslam, 31, is the only surviving member of the Islamic State cell that carried out the gun attacks on bars, restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and the Stade de France on November 13. 2015.

The presiding judge granted him the right to speak in a discussion about which representatives of the victims could participate in the trial.

Abdeslam asked if the victims of wars in Syria and Iraq would also be invited to testify and alleged that he and his fellow comrades were treated as if they had already been convicted.

He also said that some of his co-accused – those suspected of helping him return to Brussels, where he hails from, after the attacks – were not involved in the plot of the Paris attack and had only helped by generosity because they were his friends.

Judge Jean-Louis Peries repeatedly told Abdeslam that he was moving away from the subject of the hearing and eventually cut off his microphone.

“Let me remind you that you had five years to explain yourself and you said nothing,” Peries told Abdeslam, referring to the time police and magistrates spent investigating the attacks and preparing for trial.

Abdeslam would be welcome to speak later in the proceedings, Peries said, adding: “Now is not the time, this is a technical debate.”

Abdeslam continued to speak afterwards, and the judge ordered the suspension of the hearing. It resumed about 25 minutes later.

On Wednesday, the opening day of the trial, Abdeslam told the court he was a soldier of the Islamic State, the ultra-radical militant group, and later called in the courtroom that he and his co-defendants were being treated like dogs. . Read more

Some representatives of victims and survivors of the 2015 attacks have said they expected these explosions and were doing everything possible to ignore it. Others expressed dismay that Abdeslam used the trial as a platform to express his views.

“It is very difficult for victims to hear such statements,” said lawyer Catherine Szwarc, who represents seven victims.

Gaetan Honore, 44, who was at the Bataclan Theater the night of the attacks and managed to escape unharmed, wondered how Abdeslam “can cling to this kind of attitude, with the victims (in the court) “.

The start of the trial, “which was supposed to be technical, is rich in emotions and not necessarily pleasant emotions,” he said. “This will last nine months. It will be quite a challenge.”

Witnesses for the victims will begin Sept. 28. Interrogations on the accused will begin in November, but are not stated on the night of the attacks until March. The verdict is expected in late May 2022. more information

Report by Tangi Salaun and Lucien Libert, written by Christian Lowe and Ingrid Melander, edited by Mark Heinrich

Our standards: the principles of trust of Thomson Reuters.