• On the 101st day of the trial for the November 13 attacks, the specially composed assize court will hear the defendants on the night of the attacks.

  • Mohamed Abrini, who revealed that he was originally to be part of the Paris commandos last week, is the first to have been questioned at length.

At the specially composed court of assizes, in Paris

Was the expectation too high?

A week after promising to “enlighten” the specially composed assize court on his role during the November 13 attacks, Mohamed Abrini finally gave few details during the approximately six hours that his hearing lasted.

Admittedly, the thirties, white shirt, short hair and shaved beard, immediately confirmed that he was, according to the initial plans, planned to be part of the commandos.

"At the beginning of September, I was told 'you are going to be part of a project'", he begins.

His interlocutor is none other than his childhood friend, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, one of the operational leaders of the massacre.

"But I don't know it's the Bataclan, it's France," he hastens to add.

I just know that there is a project.

»

With his hands pressed against the box, this native of Molenbeek, in Belgium, confides that he was only able to say “no” to Abaaoud in the very last days.

However, according to him, he knows almost immediately that he will not participate in the attack.

“For me, it's impossible, I can't go kill people in the street, I can't attack unarmed people.

If he does not dare to open up to the head of the commandos, he swears that he confided in Brahim Abdeslam in September.

Why then take part in the "convoy of death", on September 12, from Brussels to the Paris region, before leaving hastily in the night?

For a last farewell, he says.

Why also participate in the rental of a car or the hideout?

As soon as the questions become more specific, the answers are confused.

“I, at that time,

I'm lost", "Why am I doing this?

I do not know… "

“You will be part of the journey”

Admittedly, he admits being aware that attacks are about to be committed, that "people were going to be killed", but affirms that he was unaware of all the outlines of the project, of the date of the attack on the targets envisaged.

On the other hand, he is convinced that it is because of his withdrawal that Salah Abdeslam integrates the commando in extremis.

"Even if I did not attend the conversation, seeing that there is an additional (explosive) vest, Brahim Abdeslam must have spoken to Salah, telling him 'you will be part of the trip'", assures- he, describing his co-defendant as submissive to his big brother.

Throughout his hearing, he gave the feeling of trying to clear him, saying that the latter, did not have to "be in the box", was "not able to do that".

A version that struggles to convince – and this is an understatement – ​​the public prosecutor.

“For such an operation, you can imagine that they will not be satisfied with someone who hesitates.

They involve you because they trust you!

“, insists Nicolas Le Bris, one of the three general attorneys, who methodically confronts the accused with the contradictions in his story.

Why does he go to Paris without his keys and does not plan any means of returning to Brussels?

Why is he chosen even though he would have confided from his trip to Syria, in the summer of 2015, that he did not want to fight?

“It's not because I said no that they give up directly.

»

"It's always the same, I knew I wasn't going to blow myself up"

If his determination not to be part of the November 13 commandos was as he describes it, why didn't he call the police when he left Paris?

He knew the address of the hideout and knew that there were weapons and explosives.

"It was complicated," he says, explaining that he was caught up in a conflict of loyalty while being afraid of reprisals.

And why participate, four months later, in the attacks in Brussels on March 22, 2016?

Mohamed Abrini, nicknamed "the man with the hat" after being filmed at Zaventem airport pushing a suitcase filled with TATP before fleeing without triggering his charge, will not really provide an explanation, only indicating that living in hideouts after the November 13 attacks had put an end to all his plans, including marriage and moving in with his fiancée.

"When you follow someone and they put you in a hideout, you know it's all over," he insists.

On March 22, continues Mohamed Abrini, the suicide operation at Zaventem airport and in the Brussels metro "was not planned" and was precipitated by the arrest of Salah Abdeslam on March 18.

"It's always the same, I knew I wasn't going to blow myself up," he told the court.

Justice

Attacks of November 13: On the 101st day of the trial, the defendants called to explain themselves on this night of horror

Justice

Trial of the November 13 attacks: "I don't hesitate..." Provocative and evasive, Salah Abdeslam hastens the end of his interrogation

  • Belgium

  • Terrorism

  • November 13 attacks

  • Mohammad Abrini

  • Justice

  • Terrorist attacks in Paris

  • 0 comment

  • 0 share

    • Share on Messenger

    • Share on Facebook

    • Share on Twitter

    • Share on Flipboard

    • Share on Pinterest

    • Share on Linkedin

    • Send by Mail

  • To safeguard

  • A fault ?

  • To print