Salah Abdeslam: court upholds restrictions on visits via protective screens
The presiding judge in Lille rejected the application from the convicted terrorist, citing recent evidence of dangerousness.
Salah Abdeslam: court upholds restrictions on visits via protective screens
The administrative court in Lille issued an order on 10 June confirming the restrictive measures applied to visits with Salah Abdeslam. The judge dismissed the prisoner's request for the end of the glass-barrier system during his meetings.
This judicial decision is based on recent information transmitted by prison authorities. According to a report published by franceinfo, the convicted man allegedly asked a cell-mate in isolation on 4 April to provide him with the address of the head of Vendin-le-Vieil prison in the Pas-de-Calais. He allegedly referred to sending several individuals to cause a serious incident, stating that he did not wish to wait until 2086.
Female visitors, including the detainee's mother, allegedly also sought to pass him various prohibited items: foodstuffs, fragrance, aromatic essence and a massage tool made of synthetic material. In its submissions, the Ministry of Justice concluded that these incidents revealed an ongoing threat from the convicted man and complicity on the part of his relatives to breach internal prison regulations.
The prisoner's counsel, Benoît David, strongly contested these allegations during the proceedings. He characterised the statements attributed to his client as beyond verification and denounced a strategic exploitation of the facts by prison management. He also pointed out Salah Abdeslam's prolonged isolation, confined alone for twenty-three hours daily for the past ten years, and stated that visits without physical barriers constitute his only physical link with the outside world.
This decision marks a reversal from the court's position in early spring. In early April, the court had indeed ordered the State to ease visiting conditions, attaching a daily fine of one hundred euros to this injunction. This penalty was lifted on 20 May following subsequent revelations. The last remaining member alive of the group that struck Paris on 13 November 2015, Salah Abdeslam is serving a life sentence.
Source: France Info