Paris attacks suspect gets 20-year sentence in Brussels trial

BRUSSELS: A Belgian judge on Monday sentenced Salah Abdeslam, the prime surviving suspect in the 2015 Daesh attacks on Paris, to 20 years in prison over a shootout with police in Brussels in 2016.

Salah Abdeslam, French, born in Brussels, Sept. 15, 1989, and his brother who was killed in the attack in Paris were both known to Belgian authorities prior to the attack for having been radicalized and had been questioned by the authorities prior to the attack as well. 

After his arrest, Salah had confirmed before a magistrate that he had planned to blow himself up at a sports stadium in Paris on Nov 13 but backed out at the last minute. He has also told investigators he arranged logistics for the Paris attacks.

Abdeslam’s co-defendant Sofien Ayari also received a 20-year term for attempted terrorist murder.

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While his lawyer argued Abdeslam, 28, should be acquitted because of a procedural error, prosecutors had charged him with attempted murder over the Brussels shootout in March 2016, days before his arrest, and called for a jail term of 20 years.