French court convicts 2015 Paris terror attacker to life, no parole
Salah Abdeslam's French lawyers Olivia Ronen (R) and Martin Vettes (L) arrive to enter the audience room on the day of the verdict's announcement of the trial for the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, Paris, France, June 29, 2022. (EPA Photo)


A French court convicted the lone surviving attacker of the 2015 terrorist massacre at the Bataclan theater and other sites in Paris of murder and sentenced them to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.

That is the most severe sentence possible in France, and very rare.

Salah Abdeslam was the chief suspect in an exceptional trial over the 2015 attacks, which killed 130 people and were claimed by the Daesh terrorist group.

The judge in a special terrorism court Wednesday found him guilty of murder and attempted murder about a terrorist enterprise. The court found that his explosives vest malfunctioned, dismissing his argument that he ditched the vest because he decided not to follow through with his attack.