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Five years after his spectacular helicopter escape from a French prison, the trial of a well-known criminal has begun in Paris under tight security.

Together with eleven alleged helpers, Rédoine Faïd (51) has to answer since Tuesday for the cinematic escape from a prison near Paris. Three armed accomplices took control of a helicopter on July 1, 2018. With that they ended up in a prison courtyard and took Faïd on board. The eruption lasted only minutes and no one was injured. The criminal faces life imprisonment and a large fine.

At the start of the trial, police warned of “the great risk that Rédoine Faïd might try to escape,” as broadcaster BFMTV reported on Tuesday, citing a confidential police document. Among other things, the document drew attention to the fact that relatives of the criminal were present in court as suspects. The transfer of the suspects from prison to the court in the center of Paris is in the hands of an elite unit of the gendarmerie, which was also deployed in the trial of the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Faïd, who had been sentenced to prison several times, was arrested three months after his escape in his hometown near Paris. In order not to be traced by the investigators, he had temporarily hidden under a burqa, that is, under a full body veil. Investigators also arrested Faïd’s brother, a cousin and a woman on the spot. They also confiscated two burkas and an automatic weapon, among other things.

Faïd had previously escaped from prison in 2013. At the time, he had taken four guards hostage. In 2017, a court sentenced Faïd to 25 years in prison for his alleged role in foiling a 2010 robbery. A car chase left a police officer dead. (sda/dpa)