AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Zia for five years
Turkey, Russia and Iran to hold Syria summit in Istanbul: official
Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
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Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
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EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
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New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
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US stocks close with solid gains after volatile session, Dow +2.3%
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
8 Feb 2018
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
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US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
US to unveil 'toughest sanctions ever' on N.Korea: Pence
Japan's SoftBank prepares listing of mobile unit
France says 'all indications' point to Syria regime's use of chlorine weapons
European stock markets rebound at open
France says Poland's Holocaust law 'ill advised': minister
Rio Tinto annual net profit soars 90% on strong commodity prices
Palestinian stabs Israeli in West Bank, shot dead: army
Casino tycoon Steve Wynn quits over harassment claims
Hong Kong stocks rally at open after mauling
White House says Trump has asked for military parade
Tokyo's Nikkei index rebounds over 3% after Wall St rally
US stocks close with solid gains after volatile session, Dow +2.3%
Iran sends sick American back to jail: US official
SpaceX launches world's most powerful rocket toward Mars
Palestinian killed in clashes during Israeli raid: ministry
Dow shoots 2% higher as US stocks rebound
S.Africa's Zuma holds 'fruitful' talks with successor as exit looms: ANC
US 'disappointed' by signing of Holocaust law in Poland
Erdogan to meet EU chiefs in Bulgaria on March 26: official
Taiwan hotel collapses after 6.4-magnitude quake: govt
EU to probe Apple plan to buy music app Shazam
Maldives Supreme Court revokes order to free prisoners
UK court to issue new ruling on Assange on February 13
Iraqi Kurds say 4,000 jihadists held including foreigners
US stocks fall about 1.0% in opening moments
Assange loses court bid to cancel UK arrest warrant
Boeing, Embraer near deal on commercial air business: source
'We will negotiate with no one on our weapons': Iran president
US trade gap spikes 12% in 2017 on record imports
General Motors reports $5.2 bn loss on charge for US tax reform
S.Africa postpones State of Nation address amid turmoil
UN says probing suspected chemical weapons use in Syria
Abdeslam says won't return to Brussels trial on Thursday: court
Maldives president says judges plotted to overthrow him
Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
German stock market tumbles 3.6 percent at open
European stocks slump at open as panic spreads
Maldives' Nasheed asks India, US to help remove president
BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
Palestinian prime suspect in rabbi's murder shot dead: Shin Bet
Maldives chief justice arrested: police
Tokyo's Nikkei index extends sell-off, dives 5%
Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Zia for five years
Turkey, Russia and Iran to hold Syria summit in Istanbul: official
Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
US to unveil 'toughest sanctions ever' on N.Korea: Pence
Japan's SoftBank prepares listing of mobile unit
France says 'all indications' point to Syria regime's use of chlorine weapons
European stock markets rebound at open
France says Poland's Holocaust law 'ill advised': minister
Rio Tinto annual net profit soars 90% on strong commodity prices
Palestinian stabs Israeli in West Bank, shot dead: army
Casino tycoon Steve Wynn quits over harassment claims
Hong Kong stocks rally at open after mauling
White House says Trump has asked for military parade
Tokyo's Nikkei index rebounds over 3% after Wall St rally
US stocks close with solid gains after volatile session, Dow +2.3%
Iran sends sick American back to jail: US official
SpaceX launches world's most powerful rocket toward Mars
Palestinian killed in clashes during Israeli raid: ministry
Dow shoots 2% higher as US stocks rebound
S.Africa's Zuma holds 'fruitful' talks with successor as exit looms: ANC
US 'disappointed' by signing of Holocaust law in Poland
Erdogan to meet EU chiefs in Bulgaria on March 26: official
Taiwan hotel collapses after 6.4-magnitude quake: govt
EU to probe Apple plan to buy music app Shazam
Maldives Supreme Court revokes order to free prisoners
UK court to issue new ruling on Assange on February 13
Iraqi Kurds say 4,000 jihadists held including foreigners
US stocks fall about 1.0% in opening moments
Assange loses court bid to cancel UK arrest warrant
Boeing, Embraer near deal on commercial air business: source
'We will negotiate with no one on our weapons': Iran president
US trade gap spikes 12% in 2017 on record imports
General Motors reports $5.2 bn loss on charge for US tax reform
S.Africa postpones State of Nation address amid turmoil
UN says probing suspected chemical weapons use in Syria
Abdeslam says won't return to Brussels trial on Thursday: court
Maldives president says judges plotted to overthrow him
Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
German stock market tumbles 3.6 percent at open
European stocks slump at open as panic spreads
Maldives' Nasheed asks India, US to help remove president
BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
Palestinian prime suspect in rabbi's murder shot dead: Shin Bet
Maldives chief justice arrested: police
Tokyo's Nikkei index extends sell-off, dives 5%
Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Zia for five years
Turkey, Russia and Iran to hold Syria summit in Istanbul: official
Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
US to unveil 'toughest sanctions ever' on N.Korea: Pence
Japan's SoftBank prepares listing of mobile unit
France says 'all indications' point to Syria regime's use of chlorine weapons
European stock markets rebound at open
France says Poland's Holocaust law 'ill advised': minister
Rio Tinto annual net profit soars 90% on strong commodity prices
Palestinian stabs Israeli in West Bank, shot dead: army
Casino tycoon Steve Wynn quits over harassment claims
Hong Kong stocks rally at open after mauling
White House says Trump has asked for military parade
Tokyo's Nikkei index rebounds over 3% after Wall St rally
US stocks close with solid gains after volatile session, Dow +2.3%
Iran sends sick American back to jail: US official
SpaceX launches world's most powerful rocket toward Mars
Palestinian killed in clashes during Israeli raid: ministry
Dow shoots 2% higher as US stocks rebound
S.Africa's Zuma holds 'fruitful' talks with successor as exit looms: ANC
US 'disappointed' by signing of Holocaust law in Poland
Erdogan to meet EU chiefs in Bulgaria on March 26: official
Taiwan hotel collapses after 6.4-magnitude quake: govt
EU to probe Apple plan to buy music app Shazam
Maldives Supreme Court revokes order to free prisoners
UK court to issue new ruling on Assange on February 13
Iraqi Kurds say 4,000 jihadists held including foreigners
US stocks fall about 1.0% in opening moments
Assange loses court bid to cancel UK arrest warrant
Boeing, Embraer near deal on commercial air business: source
'We will negotiate with no one on our weapons': Iran president
US trade gap spikes 12% in 2017 on record imports
General Motors reports $5.2 bn loss on charge for US tax reform
S.Africa postpones State of Nation address amid turmoil
UN says probing suspected chemical weapons use in Syria
Abdeslam says won't return to Brussels trial on Thursday: court
Maldives president says judges plotted to overthrow him
Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
German stock market tumbles 3.6 percent at open
European stocks slump at open as panic spreads
Maldives' Nasheed asks India, US to help remove president
BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
Palestinian prime suspect in rabbi's murder shot dead: Shin Bet
Maldives chief justice arrested: police
Tokyo's Nikkei index extends sell-off, dives 5%
Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Zia for five years
Turkey, Russia and Iran to hold Syria summit in Istanbul: official
Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
US to unveil 'toughest sanctions ever' on N.Korea: Pence
Japan's SoftBank prepares listing of mobile unit
France says 'all indications' point to Syria regime's use of chlorine weapons
European stock markets rebound at open
France says Poland's Holocaust law 'ill advised': minister
Rio Tinto annual net profit soars 90% on strong commodity prices
Palestinian stabs Israeli in West Bank, shot dead: army
Casino tycoon Steve Wynn quits over harassment claims
Hong Kong stocks rally at open after mauling
White House says Trump has asked for military parade
Tokyo's Nikkei index rebounds over 3% after Wall St rally
US stocks close with solid gains after volatile session, Dow +2.3%
Iran sends sick American back to jail: US official
SpaceX launches world's most powerful rocket toward Mars
Palestinian killed in clashes during Israeli raid: ministry
Dow shoots 2% higher as US stocks rebound
S.Africa's Zuma holds 'fruitful' talks with successor as exit looms: ANC
US 'disappointed' by signing of Holocaust law in Poland
Erdogan to meet EU chiefs in Bulgaria on March 26: official
Taiwan hotel collapses after 6.4-magnitude quake: govt
EU to probe Apple plan to buy music app Shazam
Maldives Supreme Court revokes order to free prisoners
UK court to issue new ruling on Assange on February 13
Iraqi Kurds say 4,000 jihadists held including foreigners
US stocks fall about 1.0% in opening moments
Assange loses court bid to cancel UK arrest warrant
Boeing, Embraer near deal on commercial air business: source
'We will negotiate with no one on our weapons': Iran president
US trade gap spikes 12% in 2017 on record imports
General Motors reports $5.2 bn loss on charge for US tax reform
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UN says probing suspected chemical weapons use in Syria
Abdeslam says won't return to Brussels trial on Thursday: court
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
8 Feb 2018
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
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US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
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Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
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OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
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Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
US to unveil 'toughest sanctions ever' on N.Korea: Pence
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Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
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German stock market slumps in closing trade
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International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
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Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
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US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
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Turkey, Russia and Iran to hold Syria summit in Istanbul: official
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
8 Feb 2018
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
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Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Zia for five years
Turkey, Russia and Iran to hold Syria summit in Istanbul: official
Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
US to unveil 'toughest sanctions ever' on N.Korea: Pence
Japan's SoftBank prepares listing of mobile unit
France says 'all indications' point to Syria regime's use of chlorine weapons
European stock markets rebound at open
France says Poland's Holocaust law 'ill advised': minister
Rio Tinto annual net profit soars 90% on strong commodity prices
Palestinian stabs Israeli in West Bank, shot dead: army
Casino tycoon Steve Wynn quits over harassment claims
Hong Kong stocks rally at open after mauling
White House says Trump has asked for military parade
Tokyo's Nikkei index rebounds over 3% after Wall St rally
US stocks close with solid gains after volatile session, Dow +2.3%
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SpaceX launches world's most powerful rocket toward Mars
Palestinian killed in clashes during Israeli raid: ministry
Dow shoots 2% higher as US stocks rebound
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US 'disappointed' by signing of Holocaust law in Poland
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Maldives Supreme Court revokes order to free prisoners
UK court to issue new ruling on Assange on February 13
Iraqi Kurds say 4,000 jihadists held including foreigners
US stocks fall about 1.0% in opening moments
Assange loses court bid to cancel UK arrest warrant
Boeing, Embraer near deal on commercial air business: source
'We will negotiate with no one on our weapons': Iran president
US trade gap spikes 12% in 2017 on record imports
General Motors reports $5.2 bn loss on charge for US tax reform
S.Africa postpones State of Nation address amid turmoil
UN says probing suspected chemical weapons use in Syria
Abdeslam says won't return to Brussels trial on Thursday: court
Maldives president says judges plotted to overthrow him
Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
German stock market tumbles 3.6 percent at open
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Maldives' Nasheed asks India, US to help remove president
BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
Palestinian prime suspect in rabbi's murder shot dead: Shin Bet
Maldives chief justice arrested: police
Tokyo's Nikkei index extends sell-off, dives 5%
Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
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Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
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US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
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Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
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Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
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Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
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US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
8 Feb 2018
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Zia for five years
Turkey, Russia and Iran to hold Syria summit in Istanbul: official
Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
US to unveil 'toughest sanctions ever' on N.Korea: Pence
Japan's SoftBank prepares listing of mobile unit
France says 'all indications' point to Syria regime's use of chlorine weapons
European stock markets rebound at open
France says Poland's Holocaust law 'ill advised': minister
Rio Tinto annual net profit soars 90% on strong commodity prices
Palestinian stabs Israeli in West Bank, shot dead: army
Casino tycoon Steve Wynn quits over harassment claims
Hong Kong stocks rally at open after mauling
White House says Trump has asked for military parade
Tokyo's Nikkei index rebounds over 3% after Wall St rally
US stocks close with solid gains after volatile session, Dow +2.3%
Iran sends sick American back to jail: US official
SpaceX launches world's most powerful rocket toward Mars
Palestinian killed in clashes during Israeli raid: ministry
Dow shoots 2% higher as US stocks rebound
S.Africa's Zuma holds 'fruitful' talks with successor as exit looms: ANC
US 'disappointed' by signing of Holocaust law in Poland
Erdogan to meet EU chiefs in Bulgaria on March 26: official
Taiwan hotel collapses after 6.4-magnitude quake: govt
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Iraqi Kurds say 4,000 jihadists held including foreigners
US stocks fall about 1.0% in opening moments
Assange loses court bid to cancel UK arrest warrant
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'We will negotiate with no one on our weapons': Iran president
US trade gap spikes 12% in 2017 on record imports
General Motors reports $5.2 bn loss on charge for US tax reform
S.Africa postpones State of Nation address amid turmoil
UN says probing suspected chemical weapons use in Syria
Abdeslam says won't return to Brussels trial on Thursday: court
Maldives president says judges plotted to overthrow him
Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
German stock market tumbles 3.6 percent at open
European stocks slump at open as panic spreads
Maldives' Nasheed asks India, US to help remove president
BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
Palestinian prime suspect in rabbi's murder shot dead: Shin Bet
Maldives chief justice arrested: police
Tokyo's Nikkei index extends sell-off, dives 5%
Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Zia for five years
Turkey, Russia and Iran to hold Syria summit in Istanbul: official
Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
US to unveil 'toughest sanctions ever' on N.Korea: Pence
Japan's SoftBank prepares listing of mobile unit
France says 'all indications' point to Syria regime's use of chlorine weapons
European stock markets rebound at open
France says Poland's Holocaust law 'ill advised': minister
Rio Tinto annual net profit soars 90% on strong commodity prices
Palestinian stabs Israeli in West Bank, shot dead: army
Casino tycoon Steve Wynn quits over harassment claims
Hong Kong stocks rally at open after mauling
White House says Trump has asked for military parade
Tokyo's Nikkei index rebounds over 3% after Wall St rally
US stocks close with solid gains after volatile session, Dow +2.3%
Iran sends sick American back to jail: US official
SpaceX launches world's most powerful rocket toward Mars
Palestinian killed in clashes during Israeli raid: ministry
Dow shoots 2% higher as US stocks rebound
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Erdogan to meet EU chiefs in Bulgaria on March 26: official
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UK court to issue new ruling on Assange on February 13
Iraqi Kurds say 4,000 jihadists held including foreigners
US stocks fall about 1.0% in opening moments
Assange loses court bid to cancel UK arrest warrant
Boeing, Embraer near deal on commercial air business: source
'We will negotiate with no one on our weapons': Iran president
US trade gap spikes 12% in 2017 on record imports
General Motors reports $5.2 bn loss on charge for US tax reform
S.Africa postpones State of Nation address amid turmoil
UN says probing suspected chemical weapons use in Syria
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Maldives president says judges plotted to overthrow him
Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
German stock market tumbles 3.6 percent at open
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Maldives' Nasheed asks India, US to help remove president
BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
Palestinian prime suspect in rabbi's murder shot dead: Shin Bet
Maldives chief justice arrested: police
Tokyo's Nikkei index extends sell-off, dives 5%
Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
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Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
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Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
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US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
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Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
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Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
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White House says Trump has asked for military parade
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Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
German stock market tumbles 3.6 percent at open
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Maldives' Nasheed asks India, US to help remove president
BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
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Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
8 Feb 2018
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
8 Feb 2018
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Zia for five years
Turkey, Russia and Iran to hold Syria summit in Istanbul: official
Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
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Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
8 Feb 2018
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
8 Feb 2018
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Zia for five years
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Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
US to unveil 'toughest sanctions ever' on N.Korea: Pence
Japan's SoftBank prepares listing of mobile unit
France says 'all indications' point to Syria regime's use of chlorine weapons
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Tokyo's Nikkei index rebounds over 3% after Wall St rally
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Abdeslam says won't return to Brussels trial on Thursday: court
Maldives president says judges plotted to overthrow him
Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
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BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
Palestinian prime suspect in rabbi's murder shot dead: Shin Bet
Maldives chief justice arrested: police
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Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
Bangladesh court jails opposition leader Zia for five years
Turkey, Russia and Iran to hold Syria summit in Istanbul: official
Bangladesh police clash with protesters ahead of Zia verdict
US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
German trade surplus narrowed to 245 bln euros in 2017
US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
N. Korea has 'no intention' to meet US in South: KCNA
US stocks end with losses as rally fades, Nasdaq down 0.9%
Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
Nigeria to send troops to restive central states: army
Merkel hails deal on stable government that 'world expects'
S.Africa's VP says expects decision on Zuma's future in "coming days"
OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
Macron to make US state visit in April: diplomatic sources
Merkel coalition deal complete: minister
New raids on battered Syria rebel enclave kill 7: monitor
Five children die in post-vote arson attack in Guinea
Germany's top parties reach deal on Merkel coalition: reports
US to unveil 'toughest sanctions ever' on N.Korea: Pence
Japan's SoftBank prepares listing of mobile unit
France says 'all indications' point to Syria regime's use of chlorine weapons
European stock markets rebound at open
France says Poland's Holocaust law 'ill advised': minister
Rio Tinto annual net profit soars 90% on strong commodity prices
Palestinian stabs Israeli in West Bank, shot dead: army
Casino tycoon Steve Wynn quits over harassment claims
Hong Kong stocks rally at open after mauling
White House says Trump has asked for military parade
Tokyo's Nikkei index rebounds over 3% after Wall St rally
US stocks close with solid gains after volatile session, Dow +2.3%
Iran sends sick American back to jail: US official
SpaceX launches world's most powerful rocket toward Mars
Palestinian killed in clashes during Israeli raid: ministry
Dow shoots 2% higher as US stocks rebound
S.Africa's Zuma holds 'fruitful' talks with successor as exit looms: ANC
US 'disappointed' by signing of Holocaust law in Poland
Erdogan to meet EU chiefs in Bulgaria on March 26: official
Taiwan hotel collapses after 6.4-magnitude quake: govt
EU to probe Apple plan to buy music app Shazam
Maldives Supreme Court revokes order to free prisoners
UK court to issue new ruling on Assange on February 13
Iraqi Kurds say 4,000 jihadists held including foreigners
US stocks fall about 1.0% in opening moments
Assange loses court bid to cancel UK arrest warrant
Boeing, Embraer near deal on commercial air business: source
'We will negotiate with no one on our weapons': Iran president
US trade gap spikes 12% in 2017 on record imports
General Motors reports $5.2 bn loss on charge for US tax reform
S.Africa postpones State of Nation address amid turmoil
UN says probing suspected chemical weapons use in Syria
Abdeslam says won't return to Brussels trial on Thursday: court
Maldives president says judges plotted to overthrow him
Poland's president to sign controversial Holocaust bill into law
Regime strikes kill 16 in Syria's Ghouta enclave: monitor
S.Africa's ANC divided on Zuma's fate: party official
China says Swedish publisher held under criminal law
Hong Kong democracy activists walk free in appeal victory
Hong Kong stocks close down more than five percent
German stock market tumbles 3.6 percent at open
European stocks slump at open as panic spreads
Maldives' Nasheed asks India, US to help remove president
BP says annual profit rockets on higher oil prices
Toyota reports 40.5% jump in nine-month profit, raises FY forecast
Tokyo's Nikkei index closes down 4.73% after Wall Street rout
Palestinian prime suspect in rabbi's murder shot dead: Shin Bet
Maldives chief justice arrested: police
Tokyo's Nikkei index extends sell-off, dives 5%
Hong Kong stocks plunge almost four percent at open
Tokyo stocks plunge over 4% after Wall Street sell-off
Two British IS fighters known as 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US defense official
Qualcomm rejects chip rival Broadcom's $121 bn hostile bid
US stocks end sharply lower; Dow -4.2%, Nasdaq -3.9%
Dow, Nasdaq down more than 3% as US stock losses deepen
Russia says humanitarian ceasefire in Syria 'unrealistic'
UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan
US says attacks on Syrian civilians 'must end now'
US stock selloff deepens; Dow loses 2.0%
Syria says US-led strikes on Deir Ezzor a 'war crime'
German stock market slumps in closing trade
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area: monitor
Bank of England holds rates, warns of early rises
International court opens initial probes into Philippines, Venezuela crimes
Greece returns to debt market with seven-year bond
Fresh regime air strikes kill 9 in Syria enclave: monitor
Kim Jong Un: North Korea is a 'world-class military power'
US-led strikes an 'aggression': Syria state media
Israel names new envoy to Jordan after diplomatic row resolved
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US-led strikes on Syria pro-regime forces kill 100: official
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US-led strikes in Syria kill 20 pro-regime fighters: monitor
Commerzbank profits slump on restructuring costs in 2017
North Korea staged military parade in Pyongyang: Seoul
Venezuela presidential vote set for April 22
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Brazil central bank cuts interest rate to new low
N.Korea standoff 'firmly in diplomatic lane': Mattis
US Senate leaders announce two-year budget deal
Germany's Schulz to step down as leader of Social Democrats
Iran 'accountable' for ailing US prisoner's health: W.House
Chad suspends 10 parties for 'disturbing public order'
Dutch judges refer British expats case to EU top court
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OPCW probing 'all credible' reports of Syria chemical attacks
EU raises eurozone growth forecast for 2018, 2019
Social Democrats to take over German finance ministry: source close to talks
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
8 Feb 2018
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
8 Feb 2018
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AFP / Riccardo PAREGGIANI
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police officers were wounded
A Belgian court must acquit Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shootout with police because of a legal language mix-up between Dutch and French, his defence lawyer said Thursday.
Abdeslam, 28, refused to come to court in Brussels on Thursday, after accusing judges on the first day of the trial on Monday of being anti-Muslim and proclaiming he would only put his "trust in Allah".
In Abdeslam's absence, lawyer Sven Mary sought the case's dismissal over a technicality in how the judges were named to investigate the gunbattle in Brussels in March 2016, in which three police offers were wounded.
"It's a very Belgian story," said Mary, explaining that the top counter-terror judge should have issued the document naming the judges in Dutch, and not in French, because he serves in a Dutch-speaking court in Brussels.
The "whole case" against Abdeslam and his Tunisian co-defendant, Sofiane Ayari "must be thrown out," Mary said.
Belgium's deep divisions between Dutch and French-speakers were often cited as a factor in the country's widely criticised investigations into the cell behind attacks in 2015 in Paris and 2016 in Brussels.
Mary also said the case has been "polluted" by media leaks in France and Belgium that deny his client a fair trial, and that there was "no element that would allow you to convict Abdeslam of a terrorist offence."
- 'Mock the rule of law' -
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum available 20-year jail term for both Abdeslam and Ayari, who face terrorist-related charges of attempted murder and possession of banned weapons over the shootout.
Abdeslam was brought to Brussels from a jail near Paris under heavy security for the trial on Monday. He had been transferred to France shortly after his arrest in March 2016.
His fellow defendant Ayari, 24, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, listening intently to his Arabic-speaking interpreter but often frowning, surrounded by elite police in balaclavas.
Abdeslam's co-defendant Ayari, a 24-year-old Tunisian, appeared alone in the court on Thursday, often looking down and frowning.
Lawyers for police wounded in the gunbattle earlier Thursday accused Abdeslam, the Belgian-born Frenchman of Moroccan descent, of scorning the trial.
"His attitude and his opportunism tire me," Tom Bauwens, a lawyer for two of the elite police officers involved in the raid in the Forest district of Brussels, told the courtroom.
"He will mock our rule of law, he will mock everybody. He will not recognise your court, he will not recognise your laws," he said. "But he will nevertheless ask for a lawyer to plead his case before you."
AFP / JOHN THYS
Sven Mary has given no indication of the line he intends to take in defence of a client whom he has previously criticised for refusing to talk to investigators.The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
The court may take several weeks to deliberate before handing down a verdict.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
A courtroom sketch made February 7, 2018 shows Salah Abdesalam, prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks at Monday's opening of his trial at a courthouse in Brussels
One of the three police officers injured in the battle, described only as agent nine, is still suffering the after-effects, his lawyer said.
"He is suffering so much from his brain lesions that he no longer knows what to do," Bauwens told the court.
"He has epileptic fits. He has loss of vision and balance. It's the reality. Agent number nine did his work and all he asks for is for you the court to continue the work he started," he said.
- Silence 'not criminal' -
Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect from the Islamic State cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks, had said on Monday that his decision to refuse to answer questions was his method of defence, and that "silence does not make me a criminal."
POLICE NATIONALE/AFP/File / DSK
Salah Abdeslam refused to attend Thursday's resumption of the hearing into the March 2016 gunbattle in Brussels in which three police were wounded
Mary initially represented Abdeslam after his arrest in Brussels, which happened three days after the gun battle, but then dropped the former bar owner because of his attitude.
However Mary then took Abdeslam back on as a client ahead of the trial and managed to delay the hearings from December last year to have more time to prepare.
Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.
The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, in which 130 people were killed.
AFP / Benoit PEYRUCQ
Lawyers for Salah Abdeslam will launch their defence in their client's absence at his trial in Belgium on Thursday after the last surviving Paris attacks suspect refused to return to court
Abdeslam's brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers.
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