The brother of the main suspect connected with the attacks on Paris in November 2015 has appealed to his brother to speak out.
Salah Abdeslam's two lawyers have both declared they can no longer defend him because he refuses to answer questions.
The 27-year-old is the only surviving member of the group behind the 13 November attack at a Paris concert hall, bars and the national stadium that left 130 people dead and scores injured.
Now, his brother Mohamed, who visits his sibling every three months, said on French radio station RTL: "I ask my brother to speak.
"During my visits to Belgium, I really saw a Salah Abdeslam who was ready to talk... A few months later, it feels like I am looking at another person.
"I can confirm that Salah is more withdrawn, more closed now."
Abdeslam was transferred to France from Belgium in April, after a long manhunt.
He has since refused to answer questions and his then lawyer said he believed his client would continue to claim the right to remain silent.
Mohamed Abdeslam said in the same interview: "His incarceration, the extremely difficult conditions of his detention, his withdrawal into himself; I sometimes have the impression he is more radicalised now, rather than de-radicalised."
The sibling said he was anxious for his brother's trial to go ahead but said "it would be a disappointment for us all" if Salah remained silent.
The last surviving suspect is alleged to have been part of an Islamic State-connected group.
He was the driver of the three suicide bombers who blew themselves up outside the Stade de France stadium.
He fled Paris and escaped to Belgium the next day, later telling investigators he had also wanted to blow himself up at the Stade de France but then changed his mind.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Paris atrocity, one of a string of attacks claimed by the jihadists that have put Europe on edge.
No comments:
Post a Comment