Salah Abdeslam trial: Paris attacks suspect lambasts 'anti-Muslim bias'

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Salah Abdeslam sits surrounded by Belgian special police officers in the courtroom at the Palais de Justice courthouse in Brussels.Image copyrightAFP/GETTY
Image captionSalah Abdeslam is refusing to co-operate with the court
The sole surviving suspect from the 2015 Paris terror attacks is refusing to speak any further in a Belgian court, where he is on trial over the gunfight that led to his arrest.
Salah Abdeslam has said he will not respond to questions from the judge.
"My silence does not make me a criminal, it's my defence," he said.
Abdeslam, 28, claimed that Muslims were "judged and treated in the worst of ways, mercilessly", and said he was placing his trust in Allah.
"I am not afraid of you, I am not afraid of your allies," he added, without making clear who he meant.
He urged the prosecution to base its case on "forensic and tangible evidence", and not to "swagger about to satisfy public opinion".
Images of Salah AbdeslamImage copyrightBELGIAN/FRENCH POLICE
Image captionAbdeslam was arrested in March 2016 after a shootout with police in Brussels
Abdeslam has refused to speak to investigators since his initial interrogation in March 2016.

What is Abdeslam accused of?

French prosecutors believe Abdeslam played a key role in the Paris attacks, in which gunmen and suicide bombers targeted a concert hall, stadium, restaurants and bars, killing 130 people and injuring hundreds more.
He became Europe's most wanted man after the mass killings, and was captured in Brussels four months later.
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The defendant's brother, Brahim, was among the Paris attackers and died in a suicide blast outside a cafe.
Abdeslam is not expected to go on trial in France until 2019 at the earliest.
The charges he faces in Brussels are not related to events in Paris, but to a shootout with police while he was on the run in Belgium.

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