Trial of the January 2015 attacks: justice looks at the Belgian aspect of the case

The Paris court, September 2, 2020, for the opening of the trial of the 2015 attacks in France.

Thomas COEX / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

The Paris Assize Court has been trying since the beginning of the week to reconstruct how the attacks of January 2015 were prepared and to determine the role of each of the accused.

A real puzzle that has a lot of gray areas, especially with regard to the weapons used by the three terrorists.

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With our special correspondent at the Paris court,

After the Lille shutter, the court looked on October 2 on the Belgian side of the case, which notably features Amedy Coulibaly, Ali Riza Polat, the main accused present in the box, and another accused, Metin Karasular , as the investigators at the bar recounted.

To the Belgian police, on January 13, 2015, Metin Karasular, a delinquent from Charleroi, recounted having bought a car from Amedy Coulibaly in early December through Ali Riza Polat.

An Austin Mini that the jihadist had acquired fraudulently on credit a few months earlier.

Disturbing coincidence

As Metin Karasular is late in paying, on several occasions, the two men travel to Charleroi to threaten him and recover money.

The very low sale price intrigues investigators.

They believe that an in-kind supplement, namely weapons, was part of the deal.

Especially since in Metin Karasular's garage, they find lists of weapons and requests for prices.

According to experts, one was written by Metin Karasular, the other by Ali Riza Polat.

Another troubling point: the delinquent from Charleroi and his mistress stop using their mobile phone on January 8, the day of the Montrouge attack " 

 ", explains spontaneously Metin Karasular to the police.

However, as one of them at the bar pointed out, the terrorist's photo had not yet been broadcast on television.

As for Ali Riza Polat, he left France on January 10 and is trying to reach Syria.

He will eventually be turned back at the Lebanese border.

► To read also: Trial of the attacks of January 2015: who supplied the weapons to Amedy Coulibaly?

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