For 10 days at the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015, the civil parties paraded again at the bar of the Special Assize Court of Paris. The direct or indirect victims of the attacks...

Trial of November 13: the victims speak to the accused

Journalists stand in front of the courtroom built especially for the trial of the November 13 attacks, in the Palais de Justice in Paris, September 2, 2021 © Thomas Coex, Paris

Text by: Nathanaël Vittrant Follow

3 mins

For 10 days at the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015, the civil parties paraded again at the bar of the Special Assize Court of Paris.

The direct or indirect victims of the attacks that hit the Stade de France, the Parisian terraces and the Bataclan concert hall.

Some of them chose to speak directly to the defendants.

“

I will only say these words once.
You were murdered, you died that day.

Justine's mother forcefully recounts how she lost her daughter, a luminous "mirror

ball

" with imperfect mirrors.

She recounts how doctors first confused her daughter's body with that of another victim.

“

I forgave all the wanderings of a system that was not prepared for such chaos.
On the other hand, 7 years later, I cannot forgive this one-night stand.
I don't want to be quiet, I don't and I never will

There is this Muslim mother who has also come with her family to talk about her deceased daughter and who speaks directly to the accused: "

I would like to say to those who presented themselves as jihadist fighters that you deserved to be, you also, separated from your mother as I am from my daughter.
My daughter, where she is from, could perhaps forgive you, I never could

This sister who wonders: “

I wonder if the defendants before your Court today are aware of the chance they have to be judged with the greatest respect for the law and human dignity?

“

I will not hate you.
You are my human brothers.

», Launches the sister of another victim wounded in her soul and in her flesh.

She quotes a song by Jacques Higelin:

You are the blazing beauty
Which reddens the sky in the morning
Like the blood on the executioner's shirt
Or the killer.
You are the beauty that I adore
'Cause she taught me to love
And to understand the ugliness
who is the mirror
where I can gaze
My truth

“

Gentlemen of the accused, she concludes, may you contemplate yours

The producer of the Eagles of Death Metal concert, injured at the start of the Bataclan attack, also speaks directly to the accused.

“

I wanted to turn to you and tell you that you didn't win.
I am still here

" "

Quite the opposite, it made me advance professionally.

» He adds with a smile «

And following that I quit smoking, so thank you gentlemen, thanks to you I may have been saved from lung cancer

There is still this DJ and music producer, who also took a bullet at the Bataclan café.

“

I have a grandfather who is Jewish, a North African father and a Basque grandmother.
Hate someone, I don't know how to do

“

Even though the defendants are not the ones who shot me, some by their actions, their silence, allowed it to happen.
Looking at them, I see that they are my age, they also have an immigrant background.
I too had trouble finding my place, my father was absent too, but unlike them who chose destruction, I chose creation.

►

To read also Trial of November 13: "I took a long time to accept that I myself was a victim"

Trial of November 13: the victims speak to the accused

Trial of November 13: the victims speak to the accused

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