Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam exercised his right to silence as he appeared in a French court for his first questioning by the judges investigating the case.
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Abdeslam, a French citizen of Moroccan origin, was handed a half-dozen preliminary terrorism charges after his transfer on April 27 from Belgium, where he was arrested after four months on the run.
Last month, he indicated he was prepared to co-operate with investigators, but today his lawyer, Frank Berton, suggested his client had been disturbed by 24-hour video surveillance in his maximum-security cell.
French authorities had been hopeful Abdeslam would provide information about the November 13 violence that killed 130 and whether there were any others involved with carrying out the attacks, according to the AFP.
Abdeslam’s exact role in the Paris attacks is still unclear.
Abdeslam was captured on March 18 at a hideout near his childhood home in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels.
A lawyer representing some of the victims’ families, Gerard Chemla, said Abdeslam had a moral duty to help the authorities.
Two others have been arrested in France in connection with the attacks, but they are considered secondary participants.
He is the only surviving member of the group of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) gunmen and suicide bombers who attacked multiple night spots around the French capital and tried to breach the Stade de France national stadium.
In the months before the attack, he transported other jihadists around Europe, including Najim Laachraoui, the suspected bombmaker for the Paris attacks. People can say what they want, that it (the judicial process) isn’t quick enough, but he is the one responsible for the timing, for the explanation and for answering the judges’ questions.
Those who wanted to hear Salah Abdeslam explain his actions were disappointed, since he remained silent in court.
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The four suspects include Mohamed Amri and Hamza Attou, who were seen on CCTV driving Abdeslam to Brussels just hours after the Paris assaults. Abdeslam’s older brother blew himself up at a cafe during the Paris attacks.
