THE ex-wife of the most notorious living terrorist in France, responsible for the Bataclan massacre, has been charged with planning attacks of her own.
Maeva B. was the partner of Salah Abdeslam, the 36-year-old ISIS operative behind the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks that claimed 137 lives.
As France prepares to mark the 10 year anniversary of the atrocities, the 27-year-old has been accused of smuggling a computer flash drive to Abdeslam.
He is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at Vendin-le Vieil prison, near Lille.
The device was said to contain extremist propaganda, including plans for further horrors.
After six days of questioning, Maeva B. was charged with “criminal conspiracy for terrorist purposes with a view to preparing crimes against person,” according to a judicial source.
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This is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, with a fine equivalent to more than £250,000.
In a statement, her legal team said: “Our client completely denies the allegations.”
According to a prosecution source, Maeve B. is said to be “firmly radicalised” and displayed a “fascination with holy war.”
She was said to be “pale skinned, with light eyes, when she appeared in front of a judge” at a closed hearing on Monday.
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The same source said that Maeva B. was “separated from Abdeslam and has had no contact with him since April.”
She “admitted to acquiring a USB drive, loading it with jihadist propaganda, and giving it to Salah Abdeslam during a prison visit.”
Following these revelations, “a 17-year-old minor” and “a twenty-year-old man who is Maëva B.’s new religious husband,” were also arrested and charged.
Maeve B. is a French national form Montauban, in the Tarn-et-Garonne department of France.
She originally wrote letters to Abdeslam in prison, before taking part in a “religious phone marriage” to the Belgium-born killer.
She then made “marital visits” to Abdeslam.
The French authorities were forced to deny she was pregnant with his child.
Abdeslam is allowed access to a computer of “very limited use” for educational purposes, said a source working for France’s National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT).
On Saturday, it was announced that the investigation had been “extended to terrorist conspiracy,” despite the flash drive in question not being found, said a PNAT spokesman
The same source said that searches of Maeva B.’s home are said to have uncovered further plans for “violent action” against the public.
Maeva B. and the other unnamed suspects have all been remanded in custody.
Abdeslam is the only surviving member of the 10-men ISIS “commando” that carried out the November 13 attacks.
In 2022, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, following a high-profile trial in Paris.
The attacks initially killed 130, and wounded almost 500, with seven more people dying soon afterwards.
The suicide bombers targeted the Stade de France, bars and restaurants, and the Bataclan music venue, where 90 people were murdered.
Abdeslam drove bombers to the sport venue, where France were playing Germany in a football friendly.
Abdeslam failed to detonate his on vest, which was full of explosives.
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He later fled to his native Belgium, before being arrested following a shoot-out in Brussels in March 2016.
France remains on high alert for further attacks as the country approaches the decade anniversary of the 2015 attacks.
Timeline of November 13 attacks
- 21:20 – First explosion at the Stade de France
- 21:25 – Gun attack at Rue Alibert
- 21:32 – Diners shot in Rue de la Fontaine au Roi
- 21:36 – Gun attack in Rue de Charonne
- 21:40 – Suicide bomb Boulevard Voltaire
- 21:40 – 00:20 Bataclan concert hall attack
