Attacks of November 13: opening of the “Paris bis” trial in Brussels

Police in action in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium, after the attacks in Paris, November 14, 2015. AFP PHOTO / BELGA / JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE

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In Brussels, the trial of the Belgian side of the Paris attacks opens at 2 p.m. today, known as “Paris bis”.

Fourteen alleged accomplices of the jihadist commandos at the origin of the attacks of November 13, 2015 in Paris are in the dock for 12 hearings which will continue until the end of May 2022. It is a question of trying suspects excluded from the legal proceedings. French, but suspected by Belgium of having helped certain perpetrators of the attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis upstream.

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With our correspondent in Brussels

,

Of the fourteen defendants, only twelve will be present this Tuesday before the criminal court.

The other two, Sammy Djedou and Youssef Bazarouj, are indeed presumed dead in Syria.

The defendants will have to answer for participation in the activities of a terrorist group and various other offences.

The common point between the defendants, suspects the Belgian federal prosecutor's office, is to have helped members of the terrorist commando, before or after the attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis.

Some would have transported them or provided them with false identity papers, others would have given them money, found a hiding place or would have accommodated them.

Did the defendants know the terrorist intentions of the commando?

Among the defendants, Abid Aberkane, a cousin of

.

It was he who had welcomed the latter in his last refuge before his arrest, a cellar located in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, in

.

's brother

, Ibrahim, will also be tried, he who is suspected of having facilitated Mohamed Abrini's trip to Syria by buying him a phone during his trip in June 2015.

All the defendants appear free, and for some of them, the charges seem thin and the facts very difficult to prove.

Finally, this trial will revolve around only one question: were the defendants aware or not of the terrorist intentions of the members of the commando, and if so, did they knowingly help them?

Judgment is expected by June 30 at the latest.

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• Terrorism

• Justice

• Trial of the attacks of November 13