Paris attacks suspect gets 20-year sentence in Brussels trial

[April 23, 2018]    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A Belgian judge on Monday sentenced Salah Abdeslam, the prime surviving suspect in the 2015 Islamic State attacks on Paris, to 20 years in prison over a shootout with police in Brussels in 2016.

People pay tribute to the victims of Paris attacks at the Place de la Republique in Paris, France, November 27, 2015 as French President called on all French citizens to hang the tricolour national flag from their windows on Friday to pay tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks during a national day of homage. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Abdeslam's co-defendant Sofien Ayari also received a 20-year term for attempted terrorist murder.

While his lawyer argued Abdeslam, 28, should be acquitted because of a procedural error, prosecutors had charged him with attempted murder over the Brussels shootout in March 2016, days before his arrest, and called for a jail term of 20 years.

(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

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