Brussels: Key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam will oppose his transfer to France and has been formally charged by the Belgian examining magistrate in connection with the November massacre, his lawyer said Saturday.
"In an hour, we will be back (before the judge) on the European Arrest Warrant under which France is seeking his extradition and I can already tell you that we will oppose his extradition," Sven Mary told reporters at federal police headquarters in Brussels.
"He will refuse his extradition at this stage," Mary said, adding his client was cooperating with the Belgian judge and had been formally charged.
French President Francois Hollande said Friday shortly after Abdeslam's arrest in Brussels that he wanted to see him transferred to France as quickly as possible.
The European Union's EAW system was introduced in 2004 specifically to speed up the extradition process, with a judge able to order a transfer from one jurisdiction to another rather than a full court case being needed to decide the matter.
Abdeslam, 26, is key suspect in the November 13 carnage in the French capital which left 130 dead and hundreds wounded.
Salah fled Paris immediately afterwards, slipping back to his home city of Brussels where he was finally tracked down and arrested Friday not far from the family home.
AFP
