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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/12/paris-attacks-salah-abdeslams-lawyers-give-up-his-defence
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| Paris attacks: Salah Abdeslam’s lawyers 'give up his defence' | Paris attacks: Salah Abdeslam’s lawyers 'give up his defence' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Lawyers for the main suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, have said that they will no longer defend him. | Lawyers for the main suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, have said that they will no longer defend him. |
| “We both decided to give up his defence,” lawyer Frank Berton said in an interview with BFM TV on Wednesday. | “We both decided to give up his defence,” lawyer Frank Berton said in an interview with BFM TV on Wednesday. |
| “We don’t think that he will speak and he will use the right to remain silent,” Berton said in a joint interview with fellow lawyer Sven Mary. | “We don’t think that he will speak and he will use the right to remain silent,” Berton said in a joint interview with fellow lawyer Sven Mary. |
| “In this position what would you like us to do? We said from the beginning … that if our client remained silent we would quit his defence,” Berton added. | “In this position what would you like us to do? We said from the beginning … that if our client remained silent we would quit his defence,” Berton added. |
| Mary said: “When you have the feeling of being there to make social visits to the prison, that is the moment when a decision has to be made.” | Mary said: “When you have the feeling of being there to make social visits to the prison, that is the moment when a decision has to be made.” |
| Abdeslam has refused to answer questions since being transferred to France from Belgium in April and is believed to be angry at round-the-clock surveillance of his jail cell. | Abdeslam has refused to answer questions since being transferred to France from Belgium in April and is believed to be angry at round-the-clock surveillance of his jail cell. |
| After four months on the run, Abdeslam was arrested on 18 March in the Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek, where he grew up. | |
| He was transferred to France to face terror charges on 27 April. | He was transferred to France to face terror charges on 27 April. |
| Investigators have yet to pin down Abdeslam’s exact role in the coordinated attacks on Paris bars, restaurants, a concert hall and the national stadium last November in which 130 people were killed. | Investigators have yet to pin down Abdeslam’s exact role in the coordinated attacks on Paris bars, restaurants, a concert hall and the national stadium last November in which 130 people were killed. |