After nine months of hearing, the professional magistrates of the specially composed Assize Court of Paris must deliver their verdict on Wednesday June 29.
Before retiring to deliberate, the judges heard one last time from the 14 defendants present at the trial.
Most of the defendants reiterated their "apologies" and "regrets" towards the victims and their relatives.
At the specially composed Court of Assizes of Paris,
The long line that formed this Monday morning in front of the entrance to the courthouse is a sign of the excitement of the last few days.
After nine months of trial - the longest in our legal history since the Second World War - the proceedings have finally ended before the special assize court in Paris.
But before rendering their verdict, the magistrates in charge of trying the 20 defendants dismissed for the attacks of November 13, 2015 gave them the floor, one last time.
Fear in the face of the legal challenge
Standing in front of their folding seats a few meters from the benches where hundreds of civil parties have settled, the three men who appeared free at this hearing fought to hide their stress.
Gray polo shirt and slicked back hair, Hamza Attou is the first to take the stand.
Embarrassed at "not having prepared anything" for the occasion, he nevertheless insisted on reiterating his "confidence in justice" and to express his thanks to the civil parties.
Like his two co-defendants placed under judicial supervision - Abdellah Chouaa and Ali Oulkadi - Hamza Attou has been able to speak on several occasions with the victims and their relatives, inside and outside the courtroom in recent months.
"I wish them the best and I sincerely hope they get through this, even though I know it's going to be difficult,"
Called to speak immediately after, Abdellah Chouaa searched for his words for a long time, shaken by emotion.
Gray suit jacket on the back, this father burst into tears, crushed by the legal issue.
“I am very afraid of your decision, I am so afraid that you will make a mistake because I am innocent (…) Certainly I accompanied Mohamed Abrini to the airport, I went to pick him up but I never knew what he had in mind, never!
“, he insisted.
As during one of his interrogations, the man turned to the box and spoke to his former friend from Molenbeek, also accused at this trial: “I blame you brother!
You destroyed my life, I don't know if one day I will forgive you!
".
Equally moved, Ali Oulkadi paid tribute to the "shattering testimonies" of the civil parties and assured them of his "recognition".
silence and resignation
Behind the windows of the box, some preferred, once again, to remain silent.
With a simple nod of the head, without bothering to get up, the Swedish Osama Krayem indicated that he did not wish to add anything, he who remained silent throughout the trial.
Muhammad Usman, another defendant who chose not to speak on the facts, contented himself with a laconic thank you to his lawyers.
Others, on the other hand, seized this final opportunity to address the court and the parties.
Mohamed Bakkali, blue, white, red striped polo shirt, for the first time "firmly condemned" the attacks.
In his deep voice, this close friend of the El-Bakraoui brothers, considered one of the “kingpins of the cell” according to the prosecution, also “apologized to the victims”:
More resigned, his neighbor in the box, the Tunisian Sofien Ayari, who has shut himself up in silence for months, lamented an impossible defense: “If we defend ourselves, we have a weed seller's defense.
If we are silent, it is showing contempt.
If we don't compare, it's a disrespectful attitude.
I don't know what attitude to adopt because whatever we say, whatever we do, it always lacks sincerity.
It's like that.
" Already sentenced in Belgium for a shooting that occurred during his run alongside Abdeslam, Sofien Ayari however had words for the civil parties: "I don't know if I can wish them to forget because I don't think this is possible.
But you don't need to share a religion or traditions to know what it's like to lose a loved one and a part of yourself.
»
"I'm not a killer"
Almost all of the defendants took advantage of this moment to claim their innocence or express "apologies" and "regrets".
Very talkative over the past nine months, Mohamed Abrini, alias "the man with the hat", contented himself this time with a short declaration.
“I didn't wait for the trial to feel remorse or regret.
I was able to put faces to the victims and I am aware that what happened is disgusting (…) I once again apologize to the victims, ”he said before sitting down in the box. .
Last to speak, Salah Abdeslam chose to close the debate with a more offensive and self-centered statement.
Regretting that his apologies, formulated during his last interrogation, could have been deemed "insincere", the only survivor of the commandos who faces the incompressible life prison sentence recounted certain episodes of violence suffered during his detention in Belgium.
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Turning to the magistrates, he praised "the tremendous work" carried out by the defense lawyers and called on the court not to make the "error" of condemning him for "murders".
“Public opinion says I was on the terraces shooting Kalashnikovs, think I was at the Bataclan killing people.
You know the truth is the opposite.
I made mistakes, it's true, but I'm not a killer, I'm not an assassin”.
After having closed the debates on these last words, the president of the court Jean-Louis Périès withdrew with his colleagues to deliberate.
Their decision should be made this Wednesday, around 5 p.m.
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