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November 2015 attacks: Abdeslam's landlord "panicked", pleads his lawyer

2022-05-09T11:47:09.149Z


"He panicked and made a very bad decision": the lawyer of Abid Aberkane, a cousin of Salah Abdeslam tried for having hosted in Brussels in...


He panicked and made a very bad decision

”: the lawyer of Abid Aberkane, a cousin of Salah Abdeslam tried for having hosted in Brussels in March 2016 the only surviving member of the November 13 commandos, pleaded on Monday 9 may be leniency for his client.

To discover

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Me Virginie Taelman began the sequence of defense pleadings at the trial, in the Belgian capital, of 14 alleged accomplices of the perpetrators of the Paris attacks of November 13, 2015 (130 dead).

On March 15, 2016, while Salah Abdeslam - on the run for four months - had just narrowly escaped a police raid on a Brussels hideout, Abid Aberkane was contacted by a man named "

Amine

" who asked him to join him where he is located in Molenbeek.

"He's his cousin, he's under pressure"

Under a false name, with "

a private number

" (unidentifiable), said Me Taelman, Abdeslam deceives the vigilance of this cousin, who finds himself cornered, "

under pressure

", to respond to his request to host him with a accomplice also on the run.

Aberkane acceded to the request, opened the cellar of his mother's home to them, where he provided them with food for three days, until the arrest of March 18, 2016. "

He's his cousin, he's under pressure, has to decide in a fraction of a second and he will make the wrong decision

, ”assured Me Taelman.

At this trial before the Brussels Criminal Court where "

small hands

" accused of having helped, transported or hosted members of the jihadist cell of November 13 are judged, Abid Aberkane, 40, is among the most severely pointed defendants singled out by the prosecution.

Ten days ago, a four-year prison sentence, with possible probation, was requested against him for acts described as "

extremely serious

" by the federal prosecutor's office.

In the investigation, the prosecution reported the discovery in March 2016 in Aberkane's mobile phone of some 200 images "

of a jihadist nature, glorifying the Islamic State group

" (IS).

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According to Me Taelman, his client was certainly interested in IS propaganda, but did not support the acts of the cell of November 13, also at the origin of the attacks in Brussels (32 dead on March 22, 2016 ).

He recognized the accommodation (of Abdeslam), he did not minimize.

He told you that it was a decision of the heart, not rational … He cracked

, ”continued the lawyer.

Abid Aberkane served fifteen months in pre-trial detention and a conviction could risk bringing down a suspended sentence pronounced in another case, she also argued.

After the end of the pleadings, next week, the court will reserve its judgment.

It should be pronounced no later than June 30.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-05-09

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