Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the 10-man unit that carried out coordinated terror attacks in Paris in 2015, has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to full life in prison, the toughest sentence available under French law.
Abdeslam, 32, a Brussels-born French citizen, was found guilty of taking part in the series of bombings and shootings across the French capital, which killed 130 people and injured more than 490.
The attacks, for which Islamic State claimed responsibility, began when suicide bombers struck outside the national sports stadium on the night of Friday 13 November 2015. Drive-by shootings and suicide bombings targeting cafés and restaurants followed, and finally, a gun attack at the Bataclan theatre during a rock concert by Eagles of Death Metal killed 90 people.
After the biggest criminal trial ever held in France, a panel of judges found Abdeslam guilty of terrorism. He was given a full-life term, the most severe penalty that can be imposed under French law. It offers only a small chance of parole after 30 years.
Another 19 suspects were found guilty of either plotting or offering logistical support, with sentences ranging from two years to life in prison.
Mohamed Abrini, a childhood friend of Abdeslam who was accused of transporting the attackers and weapons, was given a life sentence with 22 years as a minimum term.
Only 14 of the 20 accused appeared in court. The rest were missing, presumed dead, and were tried in their absence.
Paris investigators argued that Abdeslam had intended to blow himself up in a Paris bar on the night of the 13 November attacks in 2015, but that his explosive vest was defective. He argued that he backed out at the last minute.
He was accused of providing crucial planning and logistical support and also of dropping off suicide bombers at the Stade de France at the beginning of the night.
Abdeslam remained silent for years after his arrest in 2016.
He said his older brother, whom he had always sought to emulate and impress, had asked him in summer 2015 to collect Islamic State fighters returning to Europe from Syria and bring them to Brussels. Prosecutors dismissed as false his account that he had been convinced to join the unit only two days before the attacks.
