The sole surviving suspect of the 2015 Isis attacks on Paris refused to answer questions as his trial in Brussels over a shooting preceding his arrest opened in Brussels.
Salah Abdeslam, who refused to stand when asked by the judge to rise and identify himself, said: ”I do not wish to answer questions.”
Citing his right to silence and declaring his Muslim faith, he accused the media of condemning him before his trial: “Judge me. Do as you want with me,” he told the judge.
“I put my trust in my Lord.”
Appearing in public for the first time since the November 2015 attacks and his arrest in Brussels four months later with a full beard and longer hair than in pictures released before he was arrested, Abdeslam is on trial in his hometown on charges of attempted murder for a police shootout in March 2006 from which he fled.
After a first session during which his alleged accomplice admitted to having fought for Isis in Syria and said both accused were present during the shootout with Brussels police, the judge again asked Abdeslam to speak.
“I remain silent. That is a right which I have,” he said, adding: “My silence does not make me a criminal or guilty.
“I am defending myself by remaining silent.”
Abdeslam asked the prosecution to base itself on forensic evidence “and not swagger about to satisfy public opinion”, adding: “Muslims are judged and treated in the worst kind of ways. They are judged without mercy. There is no presumption of innocence.
"I'm not afraid of you, I'm not afraid of your allies. I place my faith in Allah."
Abdeslam has previously refused to speak to investigators in France about the attack there that killed 130.
Days following his capture, extremists struck in Brussels. In total, 162 people died in the two attacks.
Abdeslam's reluctance to engage with the court may prove a disappointment to Parisians who hoped he might end more than two years of silence to give some indication of how and why the attacks were organised.
His trial in France is not expected until next year. He was not charged over the Isis attacks in Brussels four days after his arrest, though prosecutors say the suicide bombers who killed 32 people acted swiftly out of fear he might reveal plans for a new attack in France under interrogation.
Abdeslam and two suspects were hiding in an apartment when police arrived for a routine search. Three officers were wounded in the shootout and one suspect was killed. Abdeslam was captured a few days later in the flashpoint Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek.
"We want to see what elements will be provided in order to have a better understanding of this series of events and terror attacks, in France and in Belgium," said Guillaume Denoix de Saint Marc, a member of V-Europe, a victims' association.
"This trial is one of the pieces of a global puzzle which will answer some of our questions. But at the same time, we expect to be very disappointed and to learn nothing."
Additional reporting by agencies
