It is the largest criminal hearing ever organized in France.
In a few days, the trial of the terrorist attacks which left 130 dead and 350 wounded in Paris and Saint-Denis in November 2015 will begin in the capital.
From September 8 and for nine months, the Special Assize Court of Paris will be responsible for trying 20 defendants, including Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the commandos unmanned by the Islamic State organization to commit these terrorist attacks in France.
Facing the court, fourteen defendants will be present and six will be tried by default.
A titanic legal system has been planned because this trial is out of the ordinary, first of all because of the high number of civil parties: nearly 1,800 people of twenty different nationalities.
Some 300 witnesses will be heard, mainly relatives of victims and survivors of the attacks, represented by almost as many lawyers.
This trial is also unprecedented in terms of its emotional charge and its duration: at least 145 court days scheduled until May 25, 2022. Holding a trial of this magnitude to its conclusion is an unprecedented challenge for the judicial institution, particularly in times of pandemic and the ever-high terrorist threat.
A custom-built courtroom
From a logistical point of view, the legal system required two years of preparation and the construction of a special and highly secure courtroom in the heart of the historic courthouse on Île de la Cité, in Paris. .
The large temporary courtroom will be completely dismantled after the trial of the November 13 attacks.
© AFP
This main courtroom will accommodate up to 550 people.
An ultramodern room, without any window, custom-built in the middle of the famous Salle des Pas Perdus and eventually removable.
About fifteen other rooms of the Court of Appeal could be used to broadcast the proceedings according to the number of people, for a total capacity of 2000 places.
Web radio for civil parties and psychological assistance
In the main room, eight cameras controlled from a technical control room will film the entire trial.
But no image is supposed to come out of the special assize court, because these recordings will be exclusively intended for the audiovisual archives of justice.
Among the thousand people who are civil parties, those who will not attend the hearings will be able to follow them on an Internet radio.
This is the first time that a device of this kind has been put in place for a criminal trial.
Only the sound will be broadcast, in a slight delay of half an hour, under ultra-secure conditions.
A psychological assistance number will be made available to listeners.
On the security side, the terrorist threat being persistent, the number of gendarmes and police officers has not been disclosed, but a substantial security perimeter will be put in place, forcing the inhabitants of the neighborhood and the participants in the trial to identity checks. .
A million-page instructional file
The first witnesses are expected to take the stand from Monday, September 13.
But before that, the president of the court will read his report, summarizing the 542 volumes of the investigation file.
A document of one million pages which is equivalent to 53 linear meters.
These historical trials filmed for the archives of justice
02:06
The victims will tell the bar for five weeks, from the end of September to the end of October, this horror night of 2015. The court will question the fourteen defendants from 2022.
Twelve of the twenty defendants face life imprisonment.
Three defendants, against whom weigh the least heavy charges, will appear free under judicial supervision.
If the court keeps its deadlines, the verdict could be delivered by May 2022.
With AFP
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR