Salah Abdeslam's solitary confinement confirmed by Lille court
The administrative court in Lille upheld Abdeslam's continued solitary confinement and visiting restrictions. His applications for suspension were rejected on 21 September 2026.
Lille court rejects Abdeslam's appeals against his detention conditions
The administrative court in Lille confirmed on Monday 21 September 2026 the continued solitary confinement of Salah Abdeslam at Vendin-le-Vieil high-security prison in Pas-de-Calais. The judge handling the interim relief application also upheld the hygiaphone separation system during his visits, according to 20minutes.fr.
Sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 13 November 2015 attacks in Paris, Abdeslam is the only surviving member of the commando. He was challenging before the administrative courts two distinct measures: the extension of his solitary confinement, scheduled to continue until 7 November, and the hygiaphone separation during visits.
The judge rejected these applications, finding that no element was "of a nature to raise doubt as to the legality" of the decisions made by the prison administration.
At the hearing on 15 September, Abdeslam had pleaded via videoconference, citing "the impact of the contested measures on his physical and psychological state". "My life no longer has any meaning," he had stated, according to remarks reported by La Voix du Nord. He had also expressed fear of his family ties fraying: "I am afraid of losing the last thing I have left, my family, which comes less and less because of the hygiaphone."
The detainee's situation prompted a statement from Arthur Dénouveau, former president of the victims' association Life for Paris, which was dissolved in November 2025. On X, he had called upon Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, asserting that Abdeslam had not been "sentenced to suicide, nor to madness, nor to an incarceration that would lead to one of these outcomes". He had added: "His detention must be organised, necessarily exceptional, without it becoming a matter of vengeance."
This was not the first time in 2026 that Abdeslam's detention conditions were the subject of a judicial decision. In early April, the same court had ordered the State to ease the terms of visits. This decision was, however, called into question in June following threats made by the detainee against the prison director. The courts had also taken into account an attempt by several visitors to hand him prohibited items during a visit.
Abdeslam therefore remains subject to solitary confinement and the separation system during visits, pursuant to the decisions of the prison administration upheld by the court.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)