13-November: the fear and sadness of the victims upon reading the reminder of the facts
Lawyers and participants arrive at the special courtroom on September 8, 2021, at the opening of the trial for the November 13 attacks in Paris.
AP - Thibault Camus
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015 began on Wednesday September 8 before the Special Assize Court in Paris.
This Friday was devoted to recalling the facts.
Report of the hearing.
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"
It will be tedious,
" warns the president of the court Jean-Louis Périés.
Then he takes off his mask to read his report, a summary of the 542 volumes of the file.
In the ranks of the civil parties, the silence is heavy, as has been observed
our special correspondent at the Palais de Justice in Paris,
Pierre Olivier.
In a neutral voice, Jean-Louis Périés takes up minute by minute the course of the attacks which left 130 dead and hundreds of victims: “
On the evening of November 13, 2015, three teams each made up of three men attacked different places in the area. Parisian agglomeration.
"
The president goes into a little more detail on each of
these attacks
, using clinical terms characteristic of these reports.
“
As soon as they arrived in the auditorium, the terrorists started shooting at people in the hall.
They then rushed inside the Bataclan, continuing to shoot at the crowd.
The rest is known to all here.
"
This is the part I've been dreading for a while
"
For each location attacked, a litany of first names, surnames, and ages echoed through the silent courtroom. On the faces of the civil parties can be read fear and sadness, we can hear a few sobs, some bow their heads or hold them in their hands, others wipe their eyes with a handkerchief.
A particularly trying moment for Olivier Laplaut, he was at Bataclan the evening of the attack.
"
It is more or less the reading of the indictment that we have already received as a civil party," he
underlines.
It is true that it is an extremely hard, complicated moment, the moment when we enter the hardship of the trial.
We are going to go into the details which are obviously hard to hear or relive.
This is the part I've been dreading for a while.
"
For long hours, the reading continues and the faces of the civil parties close.
Psychologists from the Paris Aides aux Victimes association stroll around, scrutinizing the faces ready to intervene in the event of too much emotion.
In the box, the eleven defendants listen, arms crossed, without too much reaction.
Some have their heads down.
In his report, the president also recalled the charges against the 20 accused, including the only surviving member of the commandos who carried out the attacks,
Salah Abdeslam
.
Eleven men, in pre-trial detention, appear in the box of the courtroom built for the occasion in the historic courthouse in Paris.
Three defendants, under judicial supervision, appear free.
The other six accused are tried in their absence: five are presumed dead, one last is imprisoned in Turkey.
Twelve of the 20 defendants face life imprisonment.
The trial is scheduled to last until May 25, 2022.
►
To read also: 13-November: Salah Abdeslam persists in parasitizing the trial
⚫ November 13: some benchmarks to understand the trial
►
General presentation of the trial and victims' expectations
►
Infographic: who are the alleged perpetrators and accomplices of the attacks
►
Podcasts: Shock waves, how to rebuild?
► Interview: François Hollande talks about “his” November 13
►
Report: the double punishment of French Muslims
►
Testimony: "A part of me died at the Bataclan"
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France
Trial of the November 13 attacks
Paris attacks
Justice
Terrorism