Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving attacker from the group that carried out the Paris 205 attacks received a rare full-life sentence without parole. Abdeslam has been found guilty of terrorism and murder charges. Abdeslam was convicted by a special terrorism court, which also convicted 19 other men involved in the assault on the Bataclan concert hall, cafes and the national stadium.
130 people were killed in the attacks and hundreds injured. The attacks were the worse in France since World War Two and the trial, which began in September 2021 was the biggest in modern French history.
Abdeslam had said that he had changed his mind and did not want to follow through with his part of the attack and therefore ditched his vest. But the court, on investigation, found that his explosives vest had malfunctioned. The 32-year-old Belgian was given France's most severe sentence—a lifetime in jail without parole-- a sentence given in cases related to rape or in case of murder of minors. Initially, during his trial, Abdeslam proclaimed his radicalism. But later, he appeared to evolve, weeping, apologizing to victims and pleading with judges to forgive his 'mistakes'.
Sentences were also handed to others for their indirect involvement in the attacks. They include-- Mohamed Abrini who was sentenced to 22 years for driving some of the attackers, Mohamed Bakkali, a Belgian-Moroccan coordinator, was sentenced to 30 years in jail for renting hideouts in Brussels to house the attackers; Osama Krayem and Tunisian Sofien Ayari were also both sentenced to 30 years in jail for planning a separate attack on Amsterdam airport as part of the same cell and Muhammad Usman and Adel Haddadi were sentenced to 18 years imprisonment, a BBC report reads.
