Salah Abdeslam Transferred to Vendin-le-Vieil
Salah Abdeslam, known as the only surviving member of the terrorist commandos involved in the November 13 attacks, has been transferred to the Vendin-le-Vieil penitentiary center this week. This information was confirmed by France Bleu Nord on Sunday, June 8. Abdeslam has been placed in isolation, along with other inmates with a particular profile, including Redoine Faïd, known as the “king of the escape artists.” The arrival of the terrorist, who was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 2022 following the trial of the attacks, has not caused any particular trouble so far, according to a union source. Abdeslam, who returned to France on February 7, was previously imprisoned in Belgium following the Brussels attacks of 2016.
This is not Abdeslam’s first time at the Vendin-le-Vieil penitentiary center. In 2018, he was there for a trial in Belgium for a shootout with police officers during his escape. He would travel back and forth between his cell and the defendant’s box in Brussels every day. His return to Vendin-le-Vieil this week coincides with the departure of another radicalized inmate, Michaël Chiolo, who is set to be tried in 2025 for attempted murder of public officials in connection with a terrorist organization. In March 2019, Chiolo seriously injured two prison guards with a ceramic knife.