November 13 trial: the courageous testimony that “saved many lives”
November 2015, Saint-Denis.
AP - Christophe Ena
Text by: Nathanaël Vittrant Follow
5 mins
The trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015 continues before the special assize court of Paris.
The court was interested this Friday, April 8 in the tracking of two of the terrorists of the Parisian terraces, neutralized before they could commit a new attack, thanks to a decisive testimony.
That of a young woman who had to change her identity and who was the first in France to benefit from a witness protection program.
Record of hearing.
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From our special correspondent at the Paris courthouse,
We will call her Sonia, she intervenes from an undisclosed location, her face concealed, her voice modified.
For nearly an hour, she will tell how she found herself two days after November 13 face-to-face with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the leader of the terrorist commandos.
I was a volunteer at the restaurants of the heart.
At the time, I was hosting a lot of people, people on the street
In November 2015, Hasna is sleeping at home.
A lost young girl "
with a chaotic journey
", radicalized recently but capable, will say an investigator at the helm, "
of going out in a niqab and then drinking rosé
".
It turns out that she is also the cousin of Abdelhamid Abaaoud and that it is her that the terrorist cell will contact and charge to find him a hideout in disaster.
“But if he has done something stupid, we call the police”
Abaaoud and his lieutenant Chakib Akrouh killed 39 people in 12 minutes on Parisian terraces before fleeing.
They abandoned their vehicle in Montreuil, took the metro before disappearing from the radar.
In fact, they are literally hidden in a bush near Aubervilliers, a place hidden from the street that serves as a shelter for the homeless in the neighborhood.
“
She told me that it was her cousin who was 17 who was on the street.
I told him okay, but if he did something stupid, we call the police
,” recalls Sonia.
With her companion, they drive her to the meeting place.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud comes out of the bush, she quickly understands that she is not dealing with a minor in distress.
Its presence on the territory, "an unprecedented cataclysm"
"
He was confident, he told me '
the terraces are me
', and that he was going to finish the job.
He also threatens them if they speak.
The next day, as soon as Hasna left, she contacted the police.
At first, we don't believe her, it was too beautiful, too easy.
“
But his remarks still drew our attention to several points
,” said an investigator at the helm a little earlier.
“
First, she talks about Abaaoud while the media attention is rather focused at that time on Salah Abdeslam.
Then, it gives us precise, verifiable information.
»
►Read again: How the cell in Brussels found its ultimate hideout in Abaaoud
At the time, French intelligence thinks Abaaoud in Syria, he is one of the most wanted jihadists.
"
His presence on the national territory is an unprecedented cataclysm
", explains the investigator.
But the police also fear a trap from the Islamic State group and organize discreet surveillance in front of the bush, spotting Abaaoud and Chakib Akrouh.
A project of attack against the Defense
On the screens are displayed the faces of the two terrorists emerging from the bush.
But the area is busy, they believe that the risk is too great to intervene immediately.
Especially since with "
someone like Abaaoud, we know that there is no possible surrender, and we don't know if they still have explosive vests
".
They ask Sonia to get the address of the accommodation that Hasna managed to find.
An investigator advised me to make her drink, that's what I did
She communicates to the police the address of the squat of Saint-Denis where they must go, the code, the floor.
She also learns that the two men intend to hit the La Défense business district, to attack a police station and a crèche.
"
I couldn't let that happen
," she said again.
The face-off ends when Akrouh releases his belt
On November 18, the police stormed.
The exchanges of fire will last 8 hours, injuring several undocumented migrants who lived there and whom the police arrest, fearing that they are part of the terrorist cell.
"
You have to put yourself in the context of the time
," said the policeman, who recalls that the intelligence services were then overwhelmed with phone calls and that the craziest rumors were circulating.
Moreover, Abaaoud had bragged to Sonia, claiming to have returned from Syria with 90 men.
The face-to-face ends when Chakib Akrouh triggers his explosive belt, nearly collapsing the building.
The lifeless bodies of Abaaoud and Hasna will also be found in the rubble.
This is also what the Court of Assizes will have to judge: the behavior of men who did not have your courage
Sonia, she will know the police custody before being completely cleared of all suspicion.
At the end of his testimony, President Jean-Louis Périès sends him a final word: “
I simply want to tell you that I salute your courageous gesture, madam, which has made it possible to avoid other attacks.
»
She changed her life, changed her name.
It cost me dearly, but I don't regret it, I did my civic duty
“
You are an exemplary citizen, madam
”, will answer a lawyer for civil parties.
“
In life, we always have choices, we have the choice to say nothing, to do nothing, and we have the choice to do what you did.
This is also what the Court of Assizes will have to judge: the behavior of men who have not had your courage.
»
►Read also: At the November 13 trial, the course of Salah Abdeslam on the evening of the attacks
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Trial of the attacks of November 13
Justice
France