Crime & Justice

Prosecution seeks life for four defendants in Paris attacks

Paris, Jun 10 (EFE).- The prosecution in the Paris terror attacks trial have called for life imprisonment for four of the main defendants, including Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the group that carried out the attacks.

For the Belgian-French Abdeslam, who was supposed to kill himself with an explosives belt before backing out, the prosecution asked for a life imprisonment without the possibility of being released.

“The crime is of such gravity that the sanction can only be in keeping with that gravity,” prosecutor Camille Hennetier said Friday.

Also facing a request for life imprisonment, with a security period of 22 years, is Belgian Mohammed Abrini, known as the “man in the hat” for the images of the March 2016 Brussels bombings, which killed 32 people and injured 340.

The prosecution also requested life imprisonment for five other defendants who were absent from the trial, who are considered to have “most likely” died fighting in the Islamist ranks in the Syrian civil war.

A further 10 alleged perpetrators face sentences ranging from five to 30 years’ imprisonment.

The November 13, 2015 attacks on several sites in Paris and its suburbs killed 130 people – 90 of them at the Bataclan concert hall – and injured several hundred others.

The defenses of the 20 defendants will begin on Monday to present their final arguments and their sentencing requests.EFE

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