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France opens trial over 2015 Paris attacks, with main suspect saying he is ‘an Islamic State soldier’
- The attacks killed 130 people in multiple places across the French capital, but Salah Abdeslam is believed to be the only surviving member of the group
- Security at the courtroom was high. The trial is expected to last nine months, with nearly 1,800 plaintiffs and more than 300 lawyers
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The main suspect in a jihadist rampage that killed 130 people across Paris described himself defiantly as “an Islamic State soldier” on Wednesday, upsetting some survivors who took it as a threat at the start of the trial into the 2015 attacks.
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Salah Abdeslam, 31, who appeared in court dressed in black and wearing a black face mask, is one of 20 men accused of involvement in the gun and bomb attacks on six restaurants and bars, the Bataclan concert hall and a sports stadium on November 13, 2015.
Asked his profession, the French-Moroccan removed his face mask and told a Paris court: “I gave up my job to become an Islamic State soldier.”
He is believed to be the only surviving member of the group that carried out the attacks. The other suspects are accused of helping to provide guns and cars or organise the attacks, which also injured hundreds and scarred the nation’s psyche.
Responsibility for the attacks was claimed by Islamic State, which had urged followers to attack France over its involvement in the fight against the militant group in Iraq and Syria.
Victor Edou, a lawyer for eight Bataclan survivors, said Abdeslam’s statement was “very violent”.
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