Trial of November 13: the accused Farid Kharkhach between ease and fragility
The special assize court installed inside the courthouse in Paris, on the occasion of the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015. The trial opened on September 8, 2021 and will end on May 25, 2022. AP - Michel Euler
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
At the trial of the attacks of November 13, on the last day of the examination of personalities of the accused, the court heard in particular Farid Kharkhach.
This Belgian-Moroccan admitted to having provided false papers but always swore that he did not know that they would be used by future terrorists.
Transcript of the hearing.
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With our special correspondent at the Paris courthouse,
Laura Martel
"
Bad
luck,
" repeats Farid Kharkhach.
In a laughing tone, he enumerates these twists of fate which torpedo his business: his garage sinks through the fault of the accountant, the "unaccompanied bags" that he transports between Belgium and Morocco are seized, the purchase and sale of cars seem to be working, but a customer pays him in counterfeit money, and the two cars he was counting on getting back together end up bottled up.
“
Always bad luck
”.
This bad luck which, more darkly, would have led Farid Kharkhach in this box where he does not know anyone.
He has neither lived in Molenbeek nor been in Syria.
He grew up in Morocco, succeeded in IT and it is to follow his future wife that he leaves everything for Belgium.
His divorce plunges him into depression.
And the accused to reveal the psychological flaws that make his detention all the more difficult today, he who is still on medication, also suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and has let his hair grow to hide alopecia areata, "
a hide-and-seek,
”he said.
"
Daddy is in the hospital
"
His brothers moved away from him, "
but I understand,
assures the accused,
the word terrorism is more than coronavirus, it has become worse than AIDS
".
He is holding on, he says, thanks to his new partner and their children.
A girl born shortly before his arrest in 2017, and this little boy who was 5 years old at the time, for whom he disguised himself as a police officer.
"
Dad is in the hospital,
" Kharkhach had told him, persuaded to get out quickly.
"
This lie has invaded my life
" he laments.
Almost 5 years have passed, the child is still unaware that it is a question of prison.
►
To read also: Trial of November 13: "We were not born with a Kalashnikov" [Story]
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Trial of the November 13 attacks
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Terrorism