Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam ‘is a jerk’ says his own lawyer
PARIS terror suspect Salah Abdeslam was described by his own lawyer as a “jerk” with the “brains of an ashtray” today as he was extradited to France.
Salah Abdeslam, left and his lawyer Sven Mary
Belgian lawyer Sven Mary labelled Abdeslam a product of the “Grand Theft Auto generation, that thinks it is living in a video game”.
Abdeslam, 26, is thought to be the sole survivor of the Islamic State gang that murdered 130 people in the Paris attacks last November.
He was wounded and captured last month after a shoot-out in Molenbeek, a Brussels suburb and Islamic extremist hotbed, following a four-month manhunt.
He is a perfect example of the GTA (Grand Theft Auto) generation that thinks it is living in a video game
He was captured four days before IS terrorists killed 32 people in suicide bomb attacks in Brussels.
Today he was taken from a Bruges jail to Paris in a heavily armed helicopter.
He is to be held in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison. Abdeslam has been charged with terrorist murders and using bombs and weapons, his lawyer said.
Mr Mary, who says he has been attacked for defending Abdeslam, described his client as “gold dust” for the authorities.
Mary labelled his client a 'jerk'
He told a French newspaper: “He’s a little jerk from Molenbeek, from a world of petty criminals – more of the follower than a leader, with the brains of an empty ashtray.
“He is a perfect example of the GTA (Grand Theft Auto) generation that thinks it is living in a video game.”
Mr Mary is working with Frank Berton, a high-profile French criminal lawyer, who is to lead Abdeslam’s defence.
Abdeslam has been charged with terrorist murder
Mr Berton said: “He told me naturally that he has things to say and he will say them. He wants to talk.
“What counts and what matters for us as his lawyers is simply that he gets a fair trial, that he is sentenced for things he did and not things that he didn’t do. That’s vital because he is the sole survivor.”
The 31-year-old suspect is accused of organising the logistics of the Paris attacks
Investigators say Abdeslam, whose brother Brahim, 31, blew himself up in the Paris atrocity, arranged logistics for the multiple suicide bombings and shootings.
French prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters Abdeslam planned to blow himself up at the Stade de France but had changed his mind at the last minute.