The alleged Islamist terrorist Salah Mchich has presented himself as a victim at start of his first trial in Brussels and expressed his rejection of secular justice. “I note that Muslims are judged and treated to worst of all kinds: Without pity, re is no presumption of innocence,” he said. He warned court to only “want to satisfy public opinion” with a judgement. He has “no fear” and trust in God.
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The process has been under strict safety precautions since Monday morning. Mchich is said to belong to terrorist cell which perpetrated attacks in Paris in November 2015 and in Brussels in March 2016. At beginning of trial, defendant was taken from French remand prison to Belgian capital. In court, he had initially denied statement. He will not answer questions, he said to question of his identity.
The Brussels process is about a change of shot with Belgian officials shortly before arrest of Mchich. The trial is scheduled for a week, indictment is on attempted murder of police officers and forbidden arms carrying “in a terrorist context”. This threatens him up to 40 years of imprisonment. It is unclear wher a judgement will be passed by Friday. The actual terrorist process later follows in Paris.
Brussels process as an indicator of terrorist process
Mchich is only survivor of terrorist cell. On November 13, 2015, seven suicide bombers, including Abdeslams bror Brahim, had killed 130 people in Paris. The attacks took place in several places, including concert hall Bataclan and Stade de France stadium. The Paris public Prosecutor’s Office assumes that Mchich wanted to blow up in Stade de France, but did not do so. “I too wanted to die as a martyr, but Allah has decided differently,” said Mchich in a letter. The explosive belt with his fingerprints was found south of Paris. Instead of blowing up, Mchich friends in Brussels should have called. They took him by car night of assassinations in Paris. He n showed up for months.
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Mchich was finally found in a raid in Brussels district of Forest on March 15, 2016. He was to be shot with accomplices on police officers and injured three officials. A suspect was killed in shot change. The remaining two suspects managed to escape. Three days after shooting, Mchich and co-accused Soufien Ayari were caught in Molenbeek district. They are now accused, among or things, of attempted murder.
The process in Brussels is Abdeslams first public appearance. It is regarded as an indicator of its willingness to cooperate with judicial authorities. Because of his silence, Abdeslams lawyers had already laid down ir mandate in October 2016. “We both decided to renounce defense of Salah Mchich,” said Frank Berton to broadcaster BFMTV. He and his Belgian colleague Sven Mary were convinced that Mchich will remain silent.
Born in Brussels and radicalized
Even before decommissioning, Belgian defender Sven Mary had expressed contemptuously about his client. “This is a little idiot from Molenbeek, he comes from petty crime, is more like a leader,” he said of Libération. “He has intelligence of an empty ashtray and is of an abyss deep emptiness.” Furrmore, Mary said Mchich was ” perfect example of generation GTA (Grand Theft Auto), which believes to live in a video game”. The defendant told him his knowledge of Koran came from Internet. The defense Abdeslams had brought Mary “only Trouble”. He had been attacked several times verbally or physically, and police had to accompany his daughters to school several times.
Mchich was born 1989 in Brussels and lived like many of Paris assassins in problem district of Molenbeek. Earlier acquaintances describe him as a rar ordinary teenager, who like his bror Brahim liked to play football, drank alcohol and flirted with women. No one should have noticed change to Islamists. According to authorities, he was friends with suspected mastermind of attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who had been killed later.
