2015 Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam and an accomplice, a Brussels court on Monday found guilty of attempted murder over shots fired at police they sought to stop arrest in a Brussels suburb.
The court awarded both Abdeslam and Sofiane Ayari the maximum 20-year sentence.
It said the “terror character” was clearly established in the March 2016 shooting, four months after the Paris attacks that killed 130.
Court president Luc Hennart reported that the two chose not to present the reading of the verdict and sentencing. Abdeslam attended the opening day of the trial in February but has denied co-operating since. He is being held in a prison in northern France.
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It is not clarified yet when he will face trial over the Paris attacks.
The conclusion of the case at Brussels’ ornate palace of justice took place amid tight security set up by the armed forces and police.
Abdeslam was close to being arrested in a hideout when he and Ayari fled while another man sprayed gunfire at police and was killed. Three officers were injured.
Three days later, Abdeslam was captured in Brussels. Four days after that, extremists struck in the Belgian capital, 32 people lost their lives in bomb attacks at the airport and on the subway system.
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