The room where the historic trial of complicity in the January 2015 attacks in Paris takes place.

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STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

This was the option considered, subject to the positive evolution of the state of health of the main accused.

It is now confirmed: the trial of the January 2015 attacks will resume on Wednesday.

Ali Riza Polat's state of health is now "compatible" with his presence at the hearing, the president of the special assize court Régis de Jorna said on Monday.

"Even if Ali Riza Polat's medical situation still presents some difficulties to this day (...) his state of health has been declared currently compatible with his presence at the hearings of the Assize Court", he explains, in a message sent by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office.

"It is therefore confirmed that these will resume from Wednesday, December 2 at 9:30 am," adds the magistrate.

Trial suspended due to Covid-19 cases

In a previous message sent to lawyers on Saturday, Régis de Jorna estimated that the "favorable development" in Ali Riza Polat's state of health allowed "to consider" a resumption of the trial on Wednesday morning.

This recovery was nevertheless conditional on a last health examination, scheduled for Monday at the end of the day.

The trial of the January 2015 attacks was suspended on October 31 after the discovery of three cases of coronavirus contamination among the accused, including Ali Riza Polat, presented as the "right arm" of the killer of Hyper Cacher Amédy Coulibaly and tried for "complicity" in terrorist crimes.

This suspension has been extended on several occasions, because of the “digestive troubles” of the main accused, victim of persistent nausea and vomiting.

No videoconferencing

Faced with this situation, Régis de Jorna considered resuming the trial using videoconferencing, thanks to a government order allowing the final part of a criminal trial to exceptionally take place in the physical absence of the accused.

But faced with the hostility of lawyers for this method of appearance, videoconferencing was ruled out.

And this possibility has since been made impossible, the Council of State, seized by an association of criminal lawyers, having suspended the government order.

Fourteen people in total are tried by the special assize court of Paris, including three in their absence, for their alleged support for the Kouachi brothers and Amédy Coulibaly, perpetrators of the

Charlie Hebdo

, Montrouge and Hyper Cacher

attacks

, who killed 17 people.

The trial, which opened on September 2, was originally scheduled to end on November 10.

The verdict is now scheduled for December 16.

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