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Sole surviving perpetrator of 2015 Paris attacks faces new probe
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving perpetrator of the 2015 Paris attacks, is under investigation for allegedly accessing jihadist content in prison.
PARIS (Reuters) -French anti-terrorist prosecutors have launched a new investigation into Salah Abdeslam, the only convicted perpetrator of the 2015 Paris attacks, on suspicion he sneaked a flash drive holding jihadist content into his prison cell.
The French prison authority found in January that Abdeslam, who is allowed to have a computer in his cell, had connected it to a USB drive four times in December 2024 and January 2025, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
"Computer analysis revealed the presence of numerous recordings in the form of 'access paths' to audio, image, or video files, most of which related to official propaganda from terrorist organisations, such as the Islamic State or al Qaeda," the statement said.
The suspected offences included having illegal objects in his cell and complicity in criminal association, it added.
His former partner, identified as Maeva B., admitted she bought the drive, loaded it with jihadist propaganda and delivered it to Abdeslam during a prison visit, according to the anti-terrorism prosecutor.
She is also under investigation in the probe and separately on suspicion of "belonging to a terrorism organisation seeking to commit crimes against people," based on documents seized at her home during police searches.
Her husband, a 20-year-old man, and a 17-year-old woman close to her, were also arrested as part of that second investigation. The prosecutor is asking for the three of them to be held in pre-trial detention.
Abdeslam, who is believed to be the only surviving member of the Islamist squad that killed 130 people in a night of carnage across Paris, was found guilty of terrorism and murder charges in 2022 and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of early release.
The prosecutor's decision comes as the country prepares to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the traumatic attacks, the deadliest in the country since World War Two.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro; editing by Richard Lough and Andrew Heavens)
Financial crime refers to illegal activities that involve fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and other financial misconduct that can harm individuals or institutions.
Anti-terrorism encompasses measures and policies aimed at preventing and responding to acts of terrorism, including legal frameworks and law enforcement actions.
A criminal association is a group of individuals who collaborate to commit illegal acts, often organized for the purpose of engaging in ongoing criminal activity.
Islamic finance refers to financial activities that comply with Islamic law (Sharia), prohibiting interest (riba) and promoting risk-sharing and ethical investments.
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