November 13 trial: Salah Abdeslam's conveyors tell of his exfiltration
At the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015, in front of the courtroom of the Palais de Justice in Paris.
AFP - ALAIN JOCARD
Text by: Nathanaël Vittrant Follow
3 mins
On the 110th day of hearing, the special assize court heard this Tuesday, April 13 Mohamed Amri and Hamza Attou, the two men who went to pick up Salah Abdeslam in Châtillon, in the Paris suburbs, the night of November 13 to 14 to bring him back in Belgium.
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From our special correspondent at the Paris courthouse
,
On November 13, 2015, Mohamed Amri has just returned to work at the Samu social in Brussels.
He is delighted, calls his father to tell him the news.
He starts his day at 5:30 p.m.
At 10:01 p.m., his phone rang.
A French number.
At the end of the line, Salah Abdeslam, panicked, in tears.
“
This is where my nightmare begins, but I didn't know it yet,
explains Mohamed Amri from the box.
He told me that he had had a ''dirty crash'' in France and that I had to come and get him.
»
► To listen also: Trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015: how to best tell?
He begins by refusing, directs him to Hamza Attou, the young weed dealer who has worked for a long time on behalf of Brahim Abdeslam, Salah's brother.
"
When he calls me, I tell him clearly that I don't have a vehicle and that I don't have a license
," says Hamza Attou at the helm.
He appears free in this trial.
- It did not prevent you from driving
, notes President Jean-Louis Périès.
-
Yes, it's true, but there I had to leave Belgium.
»
The doubt of the court
When Mohamed Amri finishes his day, the two men agree to fetch Salah Abdeslam together.
It is a little after 2 o'clock in the morning when they leave Brussels, all the media in Europe are only talking about the triple attack that has just hit Paris and its suburbs.
So the court finds it very difficult to believe them when they say they have heard nothing or barely heard of the attacks when they hit the road.
The question comes up again and again, constantly followed by the same denials.
So much so that the Advocate General feels obliged to remind the two men that the prosecution does not consider that they were aware of Salah Abdeslam's involvement when they left.
“
That's the good news, the bad news is that it doesn't change anything for us
,” adds Nicolas Braconnay mischievously.
“
I was not prepared for all this
”
Arriving in Châtillon, Mohamed Amri and Hamza Hattou find in the early morning a Salah Abdeslam at the end of his tether, authoritarian.
The two men agree that he very quickly explained to them that he had come to Paris with the terrorist commandos of which he then thought to be the only survivor.
Talks about avenging his brother Brahim.
Mohamed Amri had explained during a previous hearing to have "
learned French in the street
".
His vocabulary in any case seems limited since at each question from the court, he repeats until nausea that he was "
shocked and paralyzed
".
Hamza Attou describes "
a threatening atmosphere
".
“
I was scared.
At the time, I was 21 years old, I remind you because we tend to forget it.
I was not prepared for all of this.
»
Checked three times on the way back
On the way back, they are checked three times.
The second, they are even held for more than 20 minutes.
“
At that moment I thought they were going to shoot us and that was the end of it.
I was terrified
,” says Mohamed Amri.
But Salah Abdeslam's name is not circulating yet and they are allowed to leave.
On several occasions, Abdeslam leaves them alone.
Why then not flee by abandoning it?
"
I lacked courage
", they will answer in turn.
Once in Brussels, Salah Abdeslam asks them to take them to a market where he changes his clothes and has his beard cut.
Both end up leaving Abdeslam in the hands of a third man and go home.
A few hours later, they will be arrested.
► To read also: Trial of November 13: the courageous testimony which "saved many lives"
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Trial of the attacks of November 13
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