French suspect denies knowing he was hiding Paris attackers
Posted January 25, 2018 6:00 am
PARIS (AP) - A suspect on trial in a French court said he didn't know he was harboring two Islamic extremists on the run who had perpetrated the 2015 Paris attacks just days before.
Jawad Bendaoud, an outspoken 31-year-old with a criminal record, is standing trial in a Paris court for helping two of the attackers hide from police when they were the most wanted criminals in France.
"There were signs, ma'am, but I misinterpreted them," he told the presiding judge on Thursday in his first statements to the court.
Describing himself as loving life, girls, drugs and alcohol, he claims to have nothing to do with "terrorism" and jihadist ideology.
Bendaoud faces up to six years in prison if convicted.
FILE - In this Nov.19, 2015 file photo, the building of the police raid on an apartment is pictured in Paris suburb Saint-Denis. Jawad Bendaoud is due to stand trial in a Paris court, Wednesday Jan.24, 2018, for providing lodging to two Islamic extremists just days after the commando group they belonged to went on a shooting spree and carried out suicide attacks on November 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Fie)
The Associated Press
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