At the November 13 trial, the victims to tell the horror

For five weeks, the civil parties will take the stand.

© Thomas Coex, AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

After the investigators, it is now up to the civil parties to come and testify at the trial of the November 13 attacks.

From this Tuesday, September 28 and for five weeks, hundreds of them will take the helm.

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She expects a "

complicated

"

moment

. After the first weeks devoted to the clinical accounts of the investigators, the hearings of the civil parties in the trial of November 13 are expected to be charged with emotion. “ 

It will be much heavier to bear,

 ” says Edith Seurat, survivor of the Bataclan, who admits that she is not yet “ 

well ready

 ”. 

Like her, they will be around 300 - survivors of the attacks which left 130 dead in Paris and Saint-Denis, and close to the victims - to come to the helm of the huge courtroom built especially for this trial.

The president of the special assize court, which tries 20 defendants, has planned to hear about fifteen of them each day.

First those who were around the Stade de France, in the Parisian suburbs, then those on the terraces, and finally those in the Bataclan concert hall, for nearly four weeks.

“ 

It will be a moment of homage to my son,

announces Dominique Kielemoës, vice-president of the association 13onze15 and mother of Victor Muñoz, killed at the Belle Équipe.

I will be proud to bear witness to what he was.

 "

This moment of the trial is for the victims an important step, analyzes the psychologist Carole Damiani, director of the association Paris aide aux victims which was mandated to provide psychological support during this trial.

“ 

There are victims who have messages to convey, who can address the court, the public, the accused.

For those who choose to express themselves, it is important to have this place and to have the time to be able to do so,

 ”she insists.

The delicate question of identity

But the exercise promises to be difficult: alone at the desk facing the magistrates, in front of the public. Not to mention the fear of being recognized, including by employers or even relatives, to whom they have not revealed to have been victims so as not to be "tagged". “

These victims have been highly publicized, they are afraid that their identity will be revealed. Some fear for their lives, 

”says psychologist Carole Damiani. A fear accentuated by the fact that the trial is filmed, even if no image should come out.

On Friday, several lawyers asked that some of their clients, survivors or witnesses, be exempted from giving their name to the bar.

Instead, they suggest that those who come to testify can justify their identity to the clerk and not have their faces projected in all the broadcast rooms.

“

Me, my victims cannot disclose their identity.

And that's all.

They can come and tell their story, but they can't, they don't want to give their last name.

And I ask that we respect their wishes,

 ”insists Me Aurélie Soria, two clients of whom request this development. 

The president of the special assize court Jean-Louis Périès will deliver his decision on Tuesday.

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• Trial of the November 13 attacks

• France

• Justice

• Terrorism