Paris bomb attack trial begins
A British-based Algerian went on trial today accused of funding a series of terror attacks in Paris which killed eight people and injured 150 others.
Rachid Ramda was the subject of a 10-year extradition battle with authorities in London, who handed him over to France in December 2005.
He is charged with financing the 1995 Paris subway bombings by a terrorist group based in Algeria and could be jailed for life if convicted.
Ramda, 38, entered the courtroom of the special Paris tribunal – composed only of magistrates – with his hair and beard closely cropped and wearing a plum-coloured jacket and white shirt.
A Paris court has already convicted him of planning the attacks, imposing a 10-year sentence on charges of criminal association with a terrorist group.
In the new trial, he is expected to face questions about at least three bombings, including the blast in the Saint-Michel subway station on July 25, 1995 that killed eight people and injured 150.
In an interview with the French Liberation newspaper today Ramda called the charges “absurd,” and said he was a “simple Muslim” who had not been in a position to help organise the attacks.
Boualem Bensaid, the mastermind of the Saint-Michel attack, and Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, the radical movement’s bomb expert, are serving life sentences after being convicted in 2002.
In the interview, Ramda denied any connection with the two men and said he never met them.
The justice officials said police searching Ramda’s London home found a finance slip showing Ramda had wired Bensaid money.
Prosecutors believe Ramda also handled propaganda for the group and was in contact with nearly all its members in Lille, Lyon and the French capital.
A verdict is expected at the end of the month.
