13-November: Salah Abdeslam's "blows" mark the opening of the trial
Sketch of hearing of Salah Abdeslam, main accused of the mega-trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015, which opened on September 8 in Paris.
AFP - BENOIT PEYRUCQ
Text by: François-Damien Bourgery Follow
6 mins
Six years after the attacks on Saint-Denis and Paris which left 130 dead and more than 400 wounded, the November 13 trial opened this Wednesday, September 8 in Paris.
It was marked by the first words of the only survivor of the commandos.
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From our special correspondent,
“
The hearing is open, please be seated.
It is 1:17 pm.
With three quarters of an hour late due to a technical problem,
the trial of the November 13 attacks
finally opens in Paris.
In the huge room of light wood, the tumult died down.
Everyone has won their place, the black dresses occupying the vast majority of the benches.
For these first two days devoted to the procedure, most of the civil parties preferred to be represented by their lawyers.
Some still chose to come.
Dominique Kielemoës is one of them.
Mother of David Muñoz, killed at the Belle Equipe, she is also the vice-president of the association 13onze15.
From this trial, she expects "
a maximum of truth
".
The hall of lost footsteps has been emptied. One hundred and forty-one media were accredited to cover the trial, but only 24 journalists drawn by lot were able to sit in the main room. The others are scattered around the 13 broadcast rooms and there are only a few cameras left in the huge hall. Prohibition of filming elsewhere than here. The trial is recorded by the National Archives, but no image is to emerge from it. The absent civil parties can however follow it thanks to an unprecedented webradio device.
For nine months, the special assize court will plunge back into this night of terror where three almost simultaneous attacks in Saint-Denis and Paris left 130 dead and more than 400 wounded.
It will be necessary for him to dissect the facts, the months which preceded and those which followed, in order to determine the responsibility of each of the twenty accused.
►
Infographic: who are the alleged perpetrators and accomplices of the attacks?
"Islamic State fighter"
But for now, the magistrate Jean-Louis Périès, conductor of this historic trial, is calling the parties. After the interpreters come the turn of the defendants. There are eleven in the box and three outside, seated in alphabetical order. Six others are on trial by default, presumed dead in Syria or detained in connection with another case. Mid-length hair and black t-shirt, Salah Abdeslam is the first city. Will he speak? In the auction room, where a hundred journalists follow the proceedings on six screens, everyone holds their breath. A few minutes earlier, while the defendants were seated in their places, they had gathered in front of the only screen that showed the box to try to distinguish the face of the Franco-Moroccan behind the surgical masks.
The only survivor of the Saint-Denis and Paris commandos rises. He walks up to the microphone, takes off his mask, uncovering a full beard and a closely trimmed mustache, and professes: "
First of all, I want to testify that there is no god but Allah and that Mohammed is his messenger.
A shiver runs through the audience. The president of the court does not seem to be moved by it. "
Alright. We will have the opportunity to come back to it,
”he cuts. Then, when asked about his profession, Salah Abdeslam replied: "
I gave up my profession to become a fighter for the Islamic State
". "
I had noted interim
», Remarks Jean-Louis Périès. In the auction room, a few chuckles greet the reply. The other defendants, them, will decline their identity without flinching.
To barbarism, the organizers of this trial wanted a democratic response. So in a short introduction that the code of criminal procedure does not yet provide, the president of the special assize court reminds us: if
this trial is rightly considered as historic and out of the ordinary
, what matters is precisely the respect of the norm, criminal procedure and individual rights. “
We are well aware that leading this tedious technical debate from the first days of the hearing will seem out of step in the eyes of some observers. But it is necessary to then conduct a calm debate
", then explains Advocate General Nicolas Braconnay, before the long appeal of the civil parties, direct victims or"
by ricochet
begins.
»Attacks on the Stade de France, the terraces and the Bataclan.
There are already nearly 1,800 to have been formed.
"We don't want to be indebted"
Some of them leave the courtroom after a first recess. Journalists immediately flock to those wearing a green lanyard badge, a sign that they agree to speak to the media. The reactions diverge. In the words of Salah Abdeslam, the president of the association Life fort Paris Arthur Dénouveaux prefer to retain those of Jean-Louis Périès. “
I believe that is the real democratic message that we need to have today. Otherwise we will spend nine months commenting on the half-finished sentences of not extremely lucid types
”. Patrick Jardin, whose daughter Nathalie was killed at the Bataclan, on the contrary expresses cold anger. He finds it hard to digest this call for a dignified trial. "
What is it to be worthy?
To give 30 is to be worthy?
I am in prison until the end of my life.
"
Catherine Orsenne, touched at the Stade de France, shares her anger a little.
The intervention of Salah Abdeslam, "
quick as lightning to make a splash
", however, did not surprise her.
"
It's in line with this character,
" she comments.
But at least she finally saw him and heard his voice.
“
We don't expect anything from these people,”
confirms Dominique Kielemoës.
We don't want to be indebted.
As the mother of a victim, she still admits that she was in pain.
But as an association vice-president, she says, "
that doesn't affect me
."
The hearing is once again suspended after a discomfort on the part of Farid Karkhach, accused of having provided false papers to the Franco-Belgian cell.
"
Dangerous or not dangerous, we have rights!"
», Proclaims Salah Abdeslam, affirming to be«
treated like a dog for six years
».
"
If I'm not complaining, it's because I know that after death, we will be resuscitated,
" he argues again.
The president of the court interrupts him: “
We are not in an ecclesiastical tribunal, but in a democratic tribunal.
The appeal of the civil parties resumes.
It must end this Thursday.
►
See also: Infographic - Who are the alleged perpetrators and accomplices of the November 13 attacks
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