William Molinié / Photo credits: Philippe LOPEZ / AFP
modified to
06:53, February 8, 2024
Salah Abdeslam is back in France. He was taken from his Belgian prison on Wednesday, to be handed over to France. Epilogue of a bitter legal battle, because the terrorist wanted to serve his sentence across Quiévrain. Finally, the Belgian and French courts reached an agreement. Salah Abdeslam has joined the Réau penitentiary center, in Seine-et-Marne. An ultra-secure prison.
Salah Abdeslam’s new detention conditions are roughly the same as three years ago, before he was transferred to Belgium for the Brussels attacks trial. In France, he found a 9 m² cell in the Réau penitentiary center, in Seine-et-Marne: he was alone and in solitary confinement. The only difference is that today, he is no longer warned, but condemned. It will therefore not be filmed 24 hours a day, where this provision only applies to detainees awaiting trial.
No request for sentence modification before 2046
The Réau prison center is one of the most modern in France. Opened in 2011, the cells are controlled remotely to limit attacks on prison guards. The prison’s security level was reassessed after the spectacular helicopter escape of robber Rédoine Faïd in 2018.
Anti-aircraft lines were notably installed above the main courtyard of the prison. Salah Abdeslam was sentenced to 30 years in prison without reduction. In other words, he will not be able to request a sentence reduction before 2046.