The trial of the main suspect in the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks was disrupted for the second time in two days as Salah Abdeslam made more inflammatory statements from the dock, causing the judge to temporarily suspend proceedings, Reuters reported.
Abdeslam, 31, is said by French authorities to be the only surviving member of the ISIS cell that committed the shootings and bombings on the Bataclan theater, Stade de France stadium, restaurants and bars on November 13, 2015.
In an allotted period in which Judge Jean-Louis Peries gave Abdeslam the right to speak during a debate on which representatives of the victims would be allowed to participate in the trial, the suspect began ranting about the victims of wars in Syria and Iraq, asking whether they would be invited to the courtroom to testify.
He also claimed that he and the other defendants were being treated by the court as if they were presumed to be guilty.
Peries admonished Abdeslam for straying off topic several times, but the suspect began making allegations that his co-defendants who are alleged to have helped him return to Brussels, where he lives, were not part of the plot to attack Paris targets and were only giving him aid because they were his friends.
“Let me remind you that you have had five years to explain yourself and you said nothing,” Peries said to Abdeslam. He also told him that his statements were inappropriate during a debate about victim representatives.
When Abdeslam continued to talk, the judge cut off his microphone and called a recess.
The trial resumed 25 minutes later.
On Wednesday, the opening day of the trial, Abdeslam described himself as a solider of ISIS.
He also made several outbursts, including telling the court he and his co-defendants were being treated like dogs.
Catherine Szwarc, a lawyer representing the victims, criticized the outbursts as allowing the suspect to express his extremist views.
The trial is expected to last nine months with a verdict not expected until the end of May 2022.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)