On Wednesday, February 7, French Justice Minister Eric Dupont-Moretti announced that terrorist Salah Abdeslam, previously imprisoned in Belgium, has arrived on French soil to serve an “irreducible life sentence”. did.Permanently incompressible)—a penalty that does not exist in Belgium. The Brussels Court of Appeal ruled that the sentence was inhuman and degrading, and the convicted man’s defense raised it as a “rule of law” issue.
Belgian-born Salah Abdeslam is a jihadist of French and Moroccan nationality who grew up in the Molenbeek district of Brussels, often considered a hotbed for terrorists. He collaborated with the Islamic State group and played a crucial role in the November 13, 2015 Paris attacks that claimed the lives of 131 people.
On the night of November 13, 2015, after taking part in the attack on the Bataclan and the shooting on the terraces of Paris, he fled to Belgium and was arrested after several months on the run. He was also implicated in the March 2016 Brussels attacks and has since been tried alternately by French and Belgian judiciary.
In France, Abdeslam appeared at the Paris attack trial that began in September 2021. Abdeslam, the last surviving member of the group, was sentenced to life in prison on June 29, 2022. He was “temporarily extradited” to Belgium in July 2022 to stand trial for his role in the March 2016 Brussels attacks. There he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for “attempted murder for terrorist purposes.”
Since then, he has become a central figure in legal talks between the two countries regarding the execution of the sentence.
After his trial in Brussels, the terrorist was scheduled to return to France in October 2023 to complete his sentence, but a Belgian court suspended his deportation for fear of being subjected to treatment deemed degrading in France. . Abdeslam’s defense has secured a ruling by the Brussels Court of Appeal that bars Salah Abdeslam’s extradition to France due to “the risk of a violation of Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.” These provisions concern the prohibition of “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” and the right to “respect for private and family life.” As a result, a Brussels court suspended an appeal against the final decision on Abdeslam’s prison sentence and ordered a freeze on Abdeslam’s deportation to France due to his family ties in Belgium.
However, this delaying tactic failed to achieve its objective. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office has stated that the Memorandum of Understanding signed between France and Belgium regarding Abdeslam supersedes the Court of Appeal’s decision and that Abdeslam may indeed be transferred to France. The terrorists were therefore tipped off at the last minute and taken across the border on February 7 under close surveillance.
Since then, there has been an ongoing revolt within the Belgian judiciary. Emmanuel Plaschardt, president of the French-speaking Bar Association in Brussels, said he was outraged by the Belgian authorities’ decision to ignore the Brussels Court of Appeal’s ruling. even criminals have rights,” he explained in a letter to colleagues. One of the perpetrators’ lawyers denounced a “grave violation of the rule of law,” while another spoke of a “kidnapping” and described “a kind of absolute desire for revenge that takes precedence over respect for the law” on the French side. denounced. .
In France, some on the left took up the terrorist cause in the newspapers. release The article takes the view that “transferring Salah Abdeslam to France means sentencing him to a false death sentence.” The paper took advantage of this timing. Robert Badinter, the lawyer who advocated for the abolition of the death penalty when Francois Mitterrand took office as president in 1981, had just died in France. For Budinter, the death penalty and life imprisonment were one and the same. Because he “cannot substitute one punishment for another.” release article.
As far as the French Ministry of Justice is concerned, Mr. Abdeslam’s repatriation poses a major political challenge. The aim is to ensure that the terrorist remains in prison for life, and it is by no means certain that he will remain in Belgium. Because there is no life sentence there. Mr. Dupont-Moretti has often been criticized for his complacency and complacency toward criminals, but this time he has taken a firm stand in an effort to restore his image in French public opinion and respond to the concerns of the families of the victims. He was very enthusiastic about it. victims of the attack.
Abdeslam will now serve his sentence in solitary confinement at the Rho prison in the Seine-et-Marne department, a few kilometers from Paris.