NewsTrial of terrorist attacks in Paris started

Trial of terrorist attacks in Paris started

The terrorist attacks of November 13, 2015 preoccupy France to this day. Central suspects are now to be held accountable in a mammoth trial.

Paris – The air is charged with tension and the memory of the night of terror six years ago is within reach when Salah Abdeslam begins to speak in the Paris courtroom.

He is considered one of the main perpetrators and the only survivor of the terrorist squad that killed 130 people, injured 350 and traumatized the whole country in a series of Islamist attacks in the French capital. In his very first words at the start of the trial on Wednesday in the Paris Palace of Justice, when it actually comes down to his personal details, he avowed himself as a fighter for the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). This is his job.

Surrounded by police officers and behind armored glass, he can no longer cause physical damage. He doesn’t seem to want to cooperate, is stubborn and refuses simple information about his parents. However, he cannot upset the court with this.

The security precautions, which are already enormous in France because of terrorist threats, have been ramped up again for the “Bataclan” process. Almost 1,000 police officers secure the proceedings, the Palace of Justice is cordoned off over a large area and surrounded by special forces. The state shows strength.

The picture inside is completely different. The conference room in light wood and with white benches exudes almost sterile calm. It was specially prepared for the event called “Trial of the Century” in the French press. There is a total of 550 people, and at the start of the trial, a large part of the room was occupied by the black robes of the lawyers. Relatives and those affected can find psychological support in the hall itself and in the courthouse. Transmission rooms have also been created for those who do not want to be in the negotiating room or who can no longer find a place.

130 people shot dead and 350 others injured

In the series of attacks on November 13, 2015, extremists shot 130 people and injured 350 others in the “Bataclan” concert hall as well as in bars and restaurants. On the same evening, three suicide bombers blew themselves up during an international soccer match between Germany and France at the Stade de France. The IS claimed the attacks for itself.

There are now 20 suspects charged in the trial for the attacks. Abdeslam (31) is the focus. 13 other defendants are charged with supporting the terrorist unit. They are said to have procured papers, driven Abdeslam out of the country or, in two cases, prevented bombers.

Six other defendants are on trial in absentia. Five of them are believed to have died in Syria in the meantime, and one is imprisoned in Turkey on terrorist charges. The majority of the defendants face 20 or more years imprisonment in the trial, which is due to run until May 2022. Abdeslam was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Belgium for shooting the police shortly before his arrest.

The process has been one of the most important topics of conversation in France for days. Numerous survivors recounted the barely tangible horror they experienced and their difficult search for a life after it.

Gaëlle (39), for example, explained to the newspaper “Le Parisien” how she lay on the floor, hit by Kalashnikov gunshots in the “Bataclan”, on the arm and face. “It took a long time, I started hallucinating when my consciousness disappeared. I saw my son in front of me who said: Mom, you have to get up. I didn’t want him to lose me. I only had one worry: that everything would explode. ”Finally, a police officer brought her out of the hall, and she was initially lying on the floor of a restaurant with other seriously injured people. It took 40 operations to reconstruct the half of her face that had been shattered to date – her friend Mathieu, who had accompanied her, never came out of the room alive.

Yolande Meaud lost her twin daughters Charlotte and Emilie, both 29 years old, on the night of terror. They were shot on the terrace of the “Carillon” café. “I want the hidden truths to come to light and find out whether there are any weaknesses in the state structures. I assume so, ”she told France Bleu at the start of the process. “The process is one thing, but of course that is not the end of the pain that one feels.” She thinks of her daughters once a year when they visit the terrace of the café where they died.

Terrorprozess in Paris

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The trial of the Islamist terrorist attacks begins in a specially built courtroom.

Not least in view of the enormous suffering that those affected have experienced, the presiding judge Jean-Louis Périès speaks at the beginning of an extraordinary and historical trial. The frame alone is impressive. The process, which has been intensively prepared for months, brings together more than 1,700 co-plaintiffs. The first two days of the trial are therefore spent reading their names. Later, around 300 victims and their relatives are supposed to describe their experiences, and the then French President François Hollande is among the hundreds of witnesses invited. Despite the huge number of events, the process will only partially heal the wounds that terrorism has left in the soul of France. dpa

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