Trial of the January 2015 attacks: the cacophonous interrogation of Ali Riza Polat
Drawing representing the fourteen defendants and their lawyers, the first day of the trial of the January 2015 attacks. BENOIT PEYRUCQ / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
At the trial of the January 2015 attacks, the interrogation of Ali Riza Polat was on its second day this Tuesday, October 27.
Presented by the prosecution as the right arm of Ammy Coulibaly, he is, among the 11 accused present, the one on which the heaviest charge weighs, that of "complicity" for all the crimes committed by Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers .
He denies any involvement in the attacks.
Report of the two days of his interrogation.
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"
You are absolutely looking for a culprit, it will not be me,
" he had launched Monday in court.
This Tuesday, on the second day of his interrogation, Ali Riza Polat is a little less vehement, but still as combative, reports
our special correspondent at the Paris courthouse,
Laura Martel
.
Face the president first.
We sometimes wonder who is leading the debates.
Polat continues the diatribes, interrupts the questions, asks himself a co-accused, directs the questioning: "
I have worked well on the telephone, we are going to switch to Karasular
", he said.
"
We will come to this when I have decided, it is after all I who have the direction of the debates
", protests the president "
and you are not a machine to bill, at least listen to the questions
".
But wasted effort.
In the room, a "
whore
" sounds.
"
I'm sorry, but could we do some sequencing?"
We have a headache
", exclaims a lawyer"
Yes, me too, but we do as we can,
"retorts the president.
Ali Riza Polat
distributes the good and bad points, such accused, witness or investigator who charge him are liars;
the report which does not note in him any radicalization receives his approval.
Polat, master of his case to the point of citing leading references, then continues the showdown with the civil parties and the prosecution.
He sometimes points to inconsistencies in the accusation, but often dodges in the face of a disturbing element and turns in a loop.
"
You give detailed explanations, but you reject everything altogether
", annoys a lawyer.
"
You drown the fish, I will end up believing that you do not want to answer,
" points out the prosecution.
"
I tell you what I really did, which comes under common law, but that I have nothing to do with terrorism and you tell yourself that I am beating around the bush
", the accused loses his temper;
“
In fact you don't care about the truth, you want answers that suit you.
But I'm not going to admit what I haven't done,
”he insists.
"We need a scapegoat"
Already on Monday, the Paris Special Assize Court struggled to come out of a cacophonous interrogation in the face of the explosive Ali Riza Polat.
Stuck behind the glass wall, the main defendant agitates, protests, hits with his fist, raises his voice all the time.
“
I have nothing to do with it, for real
”: Ali Riza Polat once again denied any “complicity” in the terrorist attacks.
"
You absolutely want a culprit, but it's not going to be me
."
During the attacks, “
I was at home.
In fact, I don't understand, you need a scapegoat
, ”insists the 35-year-old Franco-Turkish, stout build, shaved head and white shirt, liable to life imprisonment.
"
I don't want to go to jail for that, I don't want to go to jail for that because I have nothing to do with all that,
" he repeats over and over.
Presented as the "right arm" of
Amédy Coulibaly
, a native like him from the city of Grande Borne in Grigny (Essonne), Ali Riza Polat is suspected of having helped the killer of Hyper Cacher and the brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi to prepare their attacks.
►
To read also: Attacks of January 2015: Ali Riza Polat, main accused of the trial, at the bar
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