Trial of the November 13 attacks: the last words of the defendants before the verdict
The defendants in the trial of the November 13 attacks, on the last day of defense pleadings, in a sketch from June 27, 2022. © Benoit Peyrucq / AFP
Text by: Nathanaël Vittrant Follow
5 mins
The trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015 is coming to an end.
The magistrates of the Special Assize Court of Paris retired to deliberate, but before the verdict on Wednesday June 29, the 14 defendants present had the floor one last time on Monday June 27.
Almost everyone had a word for the victims.
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From our special envoy to the Special Court of Assizes of Paris,
“
My first words will be for the victims
,” begins
Salah Abdeslam
.
The only surviving member of the terrorist commandos is the last to speak.
“
I apologized to you, and some will say that it is insincere.
More than 130
dead, more than 400
injured, who can apologize insincerely in the face of so much suffering
?
»
While the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office asked against him for life imprisonment, a sentence pronounced only four times in France, he reiterated that he was not an assassin.
“
It is with the sword of the prosecution on my neck that I address you.
I've made mistakes, it's true, but I'm not a killer.
And if you condemn me for murder, you will commit an injustice
”.
As his lawyers before him had done during their pleadings, he returned to his conditions of detention, the beatings he suffered from guards, the isolation and its consequences on his mental health.
“
When I arrived here, it was a social shock.
So I had harsh words, I regret it.
I was soothed not because I heard your pain, but because I regained this semblance of social life.
»
Salah Abdeslam is not the only one to have addressed the victims.
“
I did not wait for this trial to have regrets
,” explained Mohamed Abrini who twice gave up trying to blow himself up, first in Paris and a few months later in Brussels.
“
I know that I could have stopped all that, it was very difficult for me to watch the victims in the room.
Once again I apologize to them.
»
“
It is not because I am in the box that I do not feel sorrow for the victims
”, adds Mohamed Amri.
Unlike others, he was relatively spared from the indictments.
“
I am happy to hear the general counsel say that I had been instrumentalised.
Good to hear it after all these years.
»
Farid Kharkhach, prosecuted for having provided false papers to the terrorist cell, begged the Court to remove this terrorist label "
which eats him from the inside
".
He says he learned a lot from the victims: “
Courage, respect, humility and forgiveness.
I will carry their testimonies in my heart forever.
»
The quietest speak
With the exception of Osama Krayem, even those who had so far remained silent spoke up.
Sofien Ayari, the Tunisian jihadist, returned to the very political reading of his departure for Syria: "
I tried to explain the reasons for which I joined, I said to myself if there is a problem and that 'we want to solve it, we have to understand it.
On the other hand, he refutes any contempt for the victims: “
In my life I have loved, I have hated, sometimes too much, but I have never felt contempt towards anyone, neither here nor elsewhere.
»
Mohamed Bakkali also spoke, presented by the prosecution as the kingpin of the terrorist cell, or the "
superintendent of terror
": "
Do you have something to say in your defense
?
asked the president.
“
In my defense, no.
But I wanted to strongly condemn these attacks and I wanted to apologize to the victims.
I didn't do it before because I felt that those words had no place in the face of their pain.
»
Several have claimed their innocence: Yassine Atar, Ali El Haddad Asufi, Abdellah Chouaa, all three of whom are at risk.
To the civil parties, the first says that he hopes that they have understood that he had nothing to do with his brother, Ousama Atar - the mastermind of the attacks -, nor with his cousins, the coordinators of
November 13th
.
He, whose lawyers pleaded for acquittal, expressed the wish to be able to celebrate his son's birthday with him for the first time: he will be seven years old in a few days.
Ali El Haddad Asufi reminded him that he had "
always condemned these attacks without any reservations
".
“
I have been claiming my innocence for six years and 18 days, I am not a terrorist
”, affirms the one whom the prosecution suspects of having sought weapons for the cell without having really succeeded in demonstrating it.
Those who appear free thank the links created with the civil parties
Finally, Abdellah Chouaa was undoubtedly the most moved.
Eyes cloudy, breathless, he began by addressing the Court: “
I am very afraid of your decision.
“It must be said that he is the one who has the most to lose: the prosecution asked for nine years in prison against him, while he only spent a few months in detention.
He is criticized for his closeness to Mohamed Abrini to whom he spoke.
“
Frankly, I blame you Mohamed, you destroyed my life.
I don't know if one day I will forgive you.
»
►Also read: At the November 13 trial, the fear of emptiness after ten months of hearing
He appears free like Hamza Attou and Ali Oulkadi, both involved in the escape of Salah Abdeslam after the attacks.
The three men appeared every day on folding seats, between the box and the defense lawyers.
Over the months, friendships have been made with certain civil parties.
They wanted to thank those who supported them: "
If they knew how that gave us strength
," said Ali Oulkadi.
I hope to be able to find my life where I left it, even if nothing will be the same, to participate in the education of my children.
I hope that this label that sticks to my skin will not stick to that of my children.
I trust justice.
»
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