Bataclan Attack Suspect Abdeslam: Defiant and Isolated in French Prison

Incarcerated for the past three and a half years at the Fleury-Mérogis prison (Essonne), Salah Abdeslam leads an unusual life. He is characterized by silence, verbal aggression and faith.

This survivor of the November 13, 2015 attacks still denies his involvement in these events that occurred at the Stade de France, on the terraces of Parisian cafes and at the Bataclan. The toll had been 131 dead.

On June 7th, the Belgian was summoned by the judge in charge of the investigation. For the task, the Belgian investigators traveled from Brussels. According to Le Parisien, this interrogation, the twelfth since the incarceration of the jihadist, is his ultimate hearing. But the inmate remains silent.

The one who was discreetly treated for appendicitis in June 2018 has admirers, at least four women. Nevertheless, the inmate is often in a murderous mood, indulging in verbal aggression towards the prison staff.

On September 7, 2018, an altercation opposed him to a guard during the distribution of the evening meal, at the door of his cell, indicates the same source.

The inmate is placed in almost total isolation, monitored by cameras 24 hours a day, to the point that two years ago, the administration, fearing for his mental health, was more flexible.

The plexiglass that obscured the direct daylight has been removed and his meetings with his family in the visiting room have been facilitated.

On no occasion has Salah Abdeslam spoken on the substance of the November 13, 2015 attacks. He has only repeatedly contested the discovery of his DNA found on an explosive belt.

"I request a counter-expertise. Sincerely yours!", he had written to the judge on April 16, 2018. The investigation is supposed to know its epilogue in mid-October. The trial of the jihadist could be extraordinary.