Salah Abdeslam trial postponed to February 5, 2018

Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks which left 130 people dead, had been due to face trial in Brussels this week.

But following an application last week by Sven Mary, Abdeslam’s lawyer, the court on Monday ruled the trial would start on Monday February 5 and run until the Friday, with Wednesday as a rest day.

Abdeslam, born in Brussels of Moroccan origin, has spent nearly 20 months in isolation, under 24-hour video surveillance, at a prison in the Paris region since his transfer to France in April last year.

He has refused to cooperate with investigators and his offer to appear at the Brussels trial came as a surprise.