Trial of the November 13 attacks: “Brahim Abdeslam makes fun of the Brussels police” – LCI

Another trying day this Friday for the Belgian investigators at the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015. The first to testify Thursday had already been targeted by the defense, Me Jonathan de Taye, lawyer for the accused Ai El Haddad Asufi, regretting thatone investigator “censors himself to every other question because he is on the premises of the federal prosecutor’s office with the Moscow eye in the office”.

This Friday, three new investigators testified and were not spared either. Among them, the one called by the number 440.232.779 who, by videoconference, still from the premises of the Belgian federal prosecutor, returned to the course of Brahim Abdeslam, until August 2015. A presentation made in the absence of his brother Salah who, like Thursday, refused to attend, like four other of the accused at the hearing, to appear to protest against the anonymization of Belgian investigators.

The policeman notably mentioned the numerous trips to Morocco of the future kamikaze of Comptoir Voltaire on November 13, 2015 and his stay in Syria, via Turkey, from the end of January to February 7 of that same year where he trained. shooting.

“On February 9, 2015, our services will hear about Brahim Abdeslam who would have gone to Syria. On January 28, 2015 he contacted his brother Salah Abdeslam from the Turkish-Syrian border telling him that he was going to cross this border”, explains the investigator.

Regarding Salah Abdeslam, the report reproduced in The world says this:“On 02/28/2015, the Brussels-West police zone interviewed Salah Abdeslam in order to verify his possible radicalization. It emerges that he does not present any outward sign of radicalism, either in his clothing. , his physical appearance or his words. There is nothing to corroborate the information given in the initial report according to which he intends to go to Syria to join the Islamic State. “

Regarding Brahim Abdeslam, a Belgian police report dated December 10 speaks of a “urgent report”. However, the Belgian police do not carry out any particular surveillance on the latter. And it was not until February 16, 2015 that Brahim Abdeslam, incidentally arrested for acts of “rolling” (driving), will be questioned by local police. “Brahim Abdeslam declared to be the manager of the café Les Béguines in Molenbeek where he specified to serve alcohol. He admitted to consuming cannabis”, relates the investigator.

In his belongings, a phone and a document entitled: “Parents’ permission to jihad” are seized. “It is a document which clearly shows that I am against jihad and against young people who leave without parental authorization”, Brahim Abdeslam then assures the police. He also says that if he has had “radical ideas” in the past it no longer has any. And to add:“Besides, I smoke hash every day …” What convince the local police. Brahim Abdeslam leaves the Molenbeek police station free.

“When Brahim Abdeslam tells you that the document entitled” Parents’ permission to jihad is a document which clearly shows that I am against jihad and against young people who leave without parental authorization, we agree. that he’s laughing at you? “, tackle Me Vettes, one of Salah Abdeslam’s lawyers. “He makes fun of the Brussels police, yes”, recognizes the investigator 440.232.779.

Me Ronen, another adviser to Salah Abdeslam, is surprised that after “an urgent report” of the Brussels police, Brahim Abdeslam’s mobile phone was not used by the police. His analysis, in February 2015, was only very brief. “One can think that things would have turned out differently if the thread had been drawn. This conversation with Abdelhamid Abaaoud of July 2014 would undoubtedly have been found.”

In the summer 2014 conversation, Abaaoud said to Brahim Abdeslam: “May Allah guide you in the path of jihad and grant you martyrdom. Tear up these kuffars and take as many pigs from them as possible and join the army of Allah.” It will not be found by the investigators of the DR3, the anti-terrorism section of the federal judicial police of Brussels in March 2015, only after the attacks of November 2015. Me Chemla, lawyer of the civil party also points out this miss.

Just like Me Negar Haeri, lawyer of the accused Mohammed Amri who does not recover from this “failure”: “We had this man on hand. We had everything on a silver platter but we didn’t know how to use it. It’s cold in the back in retrospect.”