November 13 trial: the silence of Osama Krayem
Courtroom sketch showing Osama Krayem one of the defendants of the Paris attacks of November 13, 2015 during the trial at the Palais de Justice in Paris, November 4, 2021 AFP - BENOIT PEYRUCQ
Text by: Laura Martel
2 mins
For the prosecution, he is a senior member of the Islamic State group.
Judged in the trial of the attacks of November 13 for his involvement in the cell which organized the attacks, the Swede Osama Krayem will also be tried in Belgium - he would have given up at the last moment to blow himself up in the metro on March 22, 2016 - and is also under war crimes investigation in his home country for his alleged involvement in the execution of a Jordanian pilot who was burned to death.
He was to be questioned this Thursday, January 13 on the facts until August 2015, but the accused, who had refused to appear since the end of November, asserted his right to silence.
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He was one of the defendants who spoke the most during the investigation. He had also answered questions about his personality at the start of the trial. But Osama Krayem has now chosen to be silent. In a letter to the Court, he explained: “
I saw how the proceedings were going, and I lost hope. I feel that we are all pretending and that this trial is an illusion. I no longer think that the fact that I explain myself changes anything in the Court's decision.
»
So the president is reduced to reading his statements in a long monologue, despite his attempts to make the accused react. “
You seem to approve of the attacks of January 2015, we would have liked to ask you the question
”, tries the president. The accused looks down, mute. "
You left for Syria in August 2014, at age 22, with 30,000 dollars, we would have liked to know where this money came from
", relaunches Jean-louis Périès. Krayem remains silent.
"
You fought in Syria, witnessed abuses, manufactured explosives, met the number 2 of the Islamic State... We are entitled to wonder what level you could have reached within the IS but we don't There will be no response
,” sighs the president. The lights will not come either from the brother and sister of Osama Krayem, with whom he communicated from Syria: they did not respond to the summons.
His French teacher, who gave him nearly 300 hours of lessons in prison, describes him as an even-tempered, respectful man.
And reports the words of a supervisor: “
Apart from the horrible things he has committed, Mr. Krayem has a lot of humanity
”.
While the professor confirms having seen in him "
this capacity for humanity
", offended murmurs resound in the room.
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France
Terrorism
Paris attacks
Trial of the November 13 attacks
Justice