French body rules to keep Paris attacks suspect cell cameras

PARIS – France’s top administrative body denied a request by the sole surviving suspect from the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris to remove two live video cameras from his cell.

Salah Abdeslam’s lawyer Frank Berton had previously argued that the constant surveillance risked damaging the suspect psychologically.

But on Thursday, France’s State Council said it ruled that the cameras will remain in Abdeslam’s cell at France’s high-security Fleury-Merogis prison where he being held pending trial.

Abdeslam was imprisoned after a months-long manhunt following the attacks that left 130 people dead on Nov. 13. Unusually stringent security measures imposed on the 26-year-old include round-the-clock video surveillance from two infrared-enabled cameras located inside his cell.

Berton previously lost an appeal to an administrative tribunal in Versailles to have the devices removed.