Attacks in Paris: Jawad Bendaoud jailed for sheltering jihadists

A man who lent his apartment to two jihadists involved in the November 2015 attacks in Paris was sentenced to four years in prison.

Jawad Bendaoud, 32, was accused of hosting Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Chakib Akrouh as a result of the murders.

He denied knowing that they were attackers. He was acquitted at the trial in 2018, but prosecutors immediately appealed.

Suicide attacks and coordinated mbad shooting around Paris killed 130 people and injured several others.

The Islamic State group said it was behind the attacks on the city's national stadium, bars and restaurants, as well as the Bataclan concert venue on November 13, 2015.

Bendaoud, a drug trafficker and a small criminal, was sentenced on Friday.

The judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal came after the prosecution had successfully pleaded that Bendaoud had housed criminals in his apartment in Saint-Denis, north of the French capital.

Abaaoud, a Belgian national, was reported to be the leader of these attacks. He was killed during a police raid at the Saint Denis apartment on November 18, 2015. His accomplice Akrouh blew himself up during the attack.

We laugh at Bendaoud in France for pleading his innocence since he was arrested live the same day.

"Someone asked for a service, I helped them," he said at the time.

It was unclear at the moment whether Bendaoud would appeal the verdict of guilt on Friday.