Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in a jihadist rampage that killed 130 people in co-ordinated attacks across Paris in November 2015, told a French court Wednesday he had never killed or wounded anyone.
Abdeslam, 32, said he supported the militant group Islamic State (ISIS) and that it was undeniable that he had been on the path to becoming a combatant.
"I wanted to say today that I didn't kill anyone, and I didn't hurt anyone. I didn't even make a scratch," Abdeslam told the court under questioning.
"It's important for me to say this, because since the beginning of this case, people have not stopped slandering me."
French-Moroccan Abdeslam is believed to be the only surviving member of the Islamist commando thought to have carried out the gun and bomb attacks on six Parisian restaurants and bars, the Bataclan concert hall and national soccer stadium.
He is alone among the 20 defendants to be directly accused of murder, attempted murder and hostage-taking. Investigators believe his explosive vest malfunctioned and that he fled the French capital in the hours after the attack.
'I'm not a danger to society'
Abdeslam's declaration of not killing anyone has come before formal questioning on his alleged role in the attacks, which were the deadliest in postwar France and sent shock waves across Europe.
ISIS had targeted Paris to compel then-President François Hollande to end French military interventions against the group in Syria and Iraq, Abdeslam said, echoing comments he made last year at the beginning of trial.
"It's his fault that we are here today," Abdeslam said of Hollande. "They responded to the aggression of France and the West. If they killed civilians, it was to make an impression."
Abdeslam told the court he had never travelled to Syria but that he admired the militants' willingness to sacrifice themselves daily.
"I am not a danger to society," he said.
Hollande took the stand in November and was questioned by the defence about French policy in Syria and Iraq.
"This pseudo-state declared war with the weapons of war," Hollande said, when asked for the legal basis for carrying out airstrikes targeting alleged ISIS militants.
"This wasn't religion but fanaticism and barbarism," Hollande said separately of the Paris attackers.
Abdeslam faces life in prison if found guilty.
He has previously told investigators he planned to blow himself up but backed out and that he was "neither the commander nor the architect" of the Paris attacks.
Abdeslam's elder brother, Brahim, a 31-year-old Brussels barkeeper also said to be involved in the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks, blew himself up outside a Parisian café on that same date.
