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| Salah Abdeslam (left) |
The Belgian trial of a key suspect in the November 2015 Islamic State attack on Paris was postponed on Monday for seven weeks, after Saleh Abdeslam‘s newly appointed lawyer asked for more time to study the case.
Granting the request, the judge set a new trial date of Feb 5.
A French national but a lifelong Brussels resident, Abdeslam fled back to Belgium after the attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, hiding from police for four months before being detained in March last year. Four days later, on March 22, 2016, Brussels was hit by twin bomb attacks that killed 32 people.
Investigators believe that those behind the Paris and Brussels suicide attacks were linked and that Abdeslam, whose elder brother blew himself up at a Paris cafe on Nov 13, 2015, is one of the few surviving participants.
Held facing trial in France, he will be transferred to Belgium to first stand trial there, with an alleged accomplice, for attempted murder as Abdeslam evaded capture during a shootout with Brussels police three days before his arrest.
Abdeslam, who was not in court on Monday, appointed a new lawyer only last week and his counsel asked for more time to prepare the defence.
