Abdelkader Merah, 35, cleared of helping brother kill seven people in 2012 but jury decided he had been radicalised

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The brother of a French Islamist who killed seven people in Toulouse in a series of terror attacks five years ago has been cleared of being an accomplice to the murders.

Abdelkader Merah, 35, was however jailed for 20 years after a special Paris court found him guilty of links to a terrorist organisation.

Merah had been accused of helping his brother Mohamed Merah, 23, who killed three soldiers and three children and a teacher at a Jewish school in the southern French city in March 2012.

The gunman died after 32-hour siege at his home during which he claimed to be acting on behalf of al-Qaida.

Abdelkader Merah was arrested shortly afterwards and has been held on remand ever since. He has denied having anything to do with the attacks or knowing that his younger brother was planning a killing spree.

After a five-week trial, the Paris court cleared him of complicity in the murders, but found him guilty of being part of a terrorist organisation. The jury, made up of seven professional magistrates, decided Abdelkader Merah had been radicalised after hearing his evidence and that of witnesses.

A second accused, Fettah Malki, 34, who admitted suppying Mohamed Merah with an Uzi automatic rifle and bullet-proof vest but denied knowing he planned the attacks, was sentenced to 14 years in jail.