Salah Abdeslam refused, Thursday before the Criminal Court in Brussels, to apologize to the victims of the March 22, 2016 attacks in the Belgian capital.
The 33-year-old Frenchman, who is the only living member of the group responsible for the terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015, in the French capital, had previously presented, during the trial in Paris a year ago, his tearful apology to the victims of the Paris and Saint-Denis attacks – on the outskirts of Paris – that caused the death of 130 people and the fall of Hundreds injured.
In Brussels, Gaby-Ange Mendana, a lawyer for the personal right, asked the nine defendants standing trial in the case of the twin attacks that left 32 dead and more than 300 injured at the airport and in the Belgian capital’s metro if they were “ready to make an apology”.
Salah Abdel Salam replied, “The apology is an admission of guilt. And I said that here, they are not my victims.” “I was there to hear their suffering. In this way, I show them my sympathy and respect,” he added.
Salah Abdeslam was sentenced in France to life imprisonment for his role in the Paris attacks, and he denies that he knew of the planning of the Brussels attacks committed by the same terrorist cell that carried out the November 13 attacks in Paris.
Abdeslam was arrested on March 18, 2016 in Brussels after hiding out for several months in apartments with other members of the cell, and was in prison in Belgium when the attacks took place.
The Belgian Mohamed Abrini had apologized the day before to the victims and their relatives. “I bear part of the responsibility,” he said. “Of course, it pains me to hear a victim say I forgive you and extend my hand to you. I’d rather be slapped.”
Mohamed Abrini, 38, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Paris. He had retracted his participation in the November 13 attacks and had returned to Brussels on the eve of the attacks. He also refused to detonate the bomb he was carrying at Brussels airport, while Najm Al-Ashrawi and Ibrahim Al-Bakrawi detonated their bombs in him.
Tunisian Sofiane Ayari, who was arrested with Salah Abdeslam, wished the victims “that they will be able to rebuild their lives.”
“How can we not regret some choices and a certain way of behavior?” he asked.
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