Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in the November 2015 attack in Paris, refuses to return to court this week for a trial that victims hope will shed light on the ISIS network that struck again in Brussels.
Abdeslam faces attempted murder charges in Brussels from a police shootout four months after the Paris attacks. Abdeslam and an accomplice fled while another man sprayed automatic gunfire and was killed.
The two were captured a few days later in the same neighbourhood where Abdeslam and many of the attackers who were killed grew up.
On Monday, Abdeslam appeared in court but refused to answer any questions about the March 2015 shootout with police in Brussels that led to his capture. It was his first public appearance.
“I do not wish to respond to any questions. I was asked to come. I came,” said he said Monday, staying seated for the hearing, flanked by police in balaclavas. “I defend myself by keeping silent.”
But the Brussels court said Tuesday that Abdeslam didn’t wish to appear at the next hearing, scheduled for Thursday.
Abdeslam was captured on March 18, 2016, at his cousin’s home along with Sofiane Ayari, who is being tried alongside him.
Four days after his capture, extremists struck in Brussels. The same bomb maker who had built the explosives in Paris packed even more deadly material into suicide bombs at the airport and metro. Thirty-two people died along with the three bombers.
In all, the sprawling network killed 162 people in Paris and Brussels, cities that were home to most of the attackers.
Family members of victims and survivors of the attacks had hoped this week’s trial would clarify the ties between the attacks and their planning.
