The aspect of the Belgian investigation leaves a taste of unfinished business in the trial. The explanations provided on December 7 by a Belgian investigator on the course, the relations and the radicalization of Salah Abdeslam, main accused of the attacks of November 13, quite frustrated the audience, when they did not make them laugh or irritate them. . Both on the civil party side and on the defense benches, including the press. What did Salah Abdeslam go to do during a trip to Greece in the summer of 2015? What was going on in the bar Les Béguines in Molenbeek? Did Salah Abdeslam not really present any evidence of radicalization? The audience will not know more when they leave the benches of the courtroom of the courthouse in Paris.

Already, the hearing of December 7 started badly.

As in the previous days since November 25, the session opens with a suspension of hearing due to the absence of four defendants.

A break which allows the bailiff to issue summonses to appear.

Salah Abdeslam, Mohamed Abrini, Osama Krayem and Sofien Ayari indeed refuse to appear in the box to protest against the physical absence of the Belgian police officers, who have chosen to testify anonymously by videoconference.

The Debate of France 24 - Wednesday September 8, 2021 © France 24

41:07

From "Chicken" to "Abou Abderrahman"

An hour later, the Belgian investigator of the Belgian anti-terrorism police n ° 440 232 779 finally appears on the big screen of the courtroom and draws, by interposed screen, a succinct PowerPoint. Simplistic will say some, soporific will let go of the most treacherous. Its summary character makes everyone agree. The document broadly covers the period from the birth of Salah Abdeslam on September 15, 1989 to Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, municipality of Brussels, through the management of the bar Les Béguines and ends with the mysterious journey in Greece in August 2015 with Ahmed Dahmani (co-accused detained in Turkey and tried by default). At the turn of elliptical slides, we learn all the same that Salah Abdeslam had for kunya (Arabic nickname) Abou Abderrahman, which means "servant of the Merciful", and for nickname "chicken" or "pouchos pouchos", without further explanation. A map of the neighborhood indicates the homes of the accused's relations, in particular those of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Mohamed Abrini, Ahmed Dahmani.

The inspector then dwells on the summons of Salah Abdeslam on February 28, 2015 to the Molenbeek police to respond to suspected travel to Syria. A month earlier, the police were informed that Brahim, the brother of Salah and kamikaze of Comptoir Voltaire, had a stay in Syria and that he also plans to go there. Salah Abdeslam spontaneously goes to the convocation and defends himself against any radicalization. In front of the inspectors, he evokes "trips to Spain and Morocco to roam and live with the locals". He puts his friendly and ideological ties with Abdelhamid Abaaoud into perspective. The resulting report sums up the hearing in these terms: the man "shows no outward sign of radicalism, whether in his clothing,his physical appearance or his words. "A somewhat light conclusion that the civil party does not hesitate to pinpoint." If we are content to ask the question, will he say: 'It's true, I wonder about my participation in jihad '? Are we not doing other investigations? "Asks Me Gérard Chemla, lawyer of civil parties." We must get back to that time, going to Syria was not an offense ", boot in touch the inspector "But we know his links with Abaaoud, and we know that Abaaoud poses a particular threat. Aren't we looking at the phones? Computers? Are we not looking at anything? ", Annoys the lawyer." The magistrate has decided that there were not enough elements at that time ",answers the witness visibly uncomfortable.

# 13 November


Me Haeri: we know that Salah Abdeslam is a friend of Abaaoud, we know who Abaaoud is.

In spite of this, what counts for the investigator of the DR3 it is not that but it is a dress style, a physique.

Are these the criteria for excluding radicalism?

- Aurélie Sarrot (@aureliesarrot) December 7, 2021

Mystery around the café Les Béguines

In his presentation, the policeman also briefly mentioned the co-management with his brother Brahim of the café Les Béguines. Key place supposedly of his radicalization, because the investigation established that it is in the cellar of this bar that he regularly found Abdelhamid Abaaoud. It was in this same place that he watched a macabre video of his friend dragging corpses behind the wheel of a pick-up. Problem, at the end of his presentation, the inspector is unable to clearly state whether there really was a cellar within the establishment. "Probably, there was one, but I was not checked", answers, embarrassed, the investigator to the insistent questions of Me Olivia Ronen, the lawyer of Salah Abdeslam. The report of the search of the cafe, read by the lawyer,Once again overwhelms the work of the Belgian police as its content is summary. The men from the financial section, and not from the anti-terrorism section (DR3), who carried out the search did not deem it useful to search the premises, did not go into the cellar. The visit lasts no more than fifteen minutes. "Nothing in the establishment is of interest to the investigation," one concludes.

Nor does the inspector's briefing shed light on the intentions of Salah Abdeslam, who visited Greece in 2015. Apart from the fact that the inspector was unable to pronounce the word correctly "airport", using the term "airport" on multiple occasions causing mocking laughter and puzzled glances, Witness n ° 440 232 779 was not more efficient in providing details of what the accused may have done there and meet there. Pressed by the specific questions of the lawyers, the battered inspector only manages to stammer out evasive formulas made of "not to my knowledge", "it is probable", and of "I don't know" badly concealing the approximations of investigation.We may better understand the reasons for his anonymity.

The Belgian police trial

The day before, President Jean-Louis Periès had asked the lawyers not to be mistaken in the trial, which did not support the barely veiled admonitions addressed to the police officer.

"We are not here to put this institution or service on trial. That there have been flaws, people who have fallen through the cracks, unfortunately, has been established for a while. we are not here to give good or bad points… "

Tuesday, a few minutes from the end of the session, the president of the court ended up reframing Olivia Ronen, whose tone of questions turned the questioning to a collective humiliation session.

"If you could avoid the comments in your questions. Your questions are already quite fine and justified. I think that we can adopt a tone other than that adopted towards this investigator", he reprimands her.

Finally, the hearing ended as badly as it had started.

Bad week for Belgian investigators.

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