Terror trial likely to be disrupted by prison guards strike

PARIS – The trial of a man accused of providing assistance to the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks could be disrupted by prison guards protesting their working conditions.

Jawad Bendaoud is scheduled to appear in a Paris court Wednesday. He is accused of lodging Islamic State-linked extremists hiding from police after the 2015 attacks.

Cedric Boyer, representing the Force Ouvriere union at the Fresnes prison south of Paris where Bendaoud is being held, told The Associated Press that he is still inside the jail.

Boyer said about 200 guards are protesting outside the prison, adding that only "a handful" of workers crossed the strike picket line and went to work.

Bendaoud's trial is the first one linked to the attacks on Paris cafes, the national stadium and the Bataclan concert hall, which killed 130 people.