“I recognized that I was not perfect, I made mistakes it’s true but I’m not a murderer, I’m not a killer. And if you condemn me for murder, you will commit an injustice .” These were the last words of Salah Abdeslam, Monday June 27, before the Special Assize Court of Paris. Like all defendants, the sOnly member of the November 13 commandos still alive spoke for the last time, on the 148th and last day of the trial of the November 13, 2015 attacks.
Nearly ten months after its opening, the longest criminal hearing since the Second World War ends, as required by the Code of Criminal Procedure, with these last words of the men tried for their participation, to varying degrees, in the attacks that left 132 dead and hundreds injured in Paris and Saint-Denis. Salah Abdeslam, the last to speak among the 14 defendants present at this hearing, made a point of explaining his “evolution” during the debates, returning to the conditions of his imprisonment for six years and “violence” suffered in detention, particularly in Belgium.
“I was then brought back to this enclosure [judiciaire]I was prevented from speaking to anyone, it was the social shock, I had not seen so many people for a long time, I was on my teeth so I was a little harsh in my words and I regret it”he regretted in reference to his remarks and his provocations last September. “It is with the sword of the prosecution on my neck that I address you”continued Salah Abdeslam, cagainst which the incompressible perpetuity was required by the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office.
A sentence required in the name of “co-action” on all the sites of the attacks for which Salah Abdeslam is accused, as his lawyer Olivia Ronen denounced during his oral argument on Friday. “Public opinion says that I was on the terraces busy shooting people, that I was at the Bataclan. You know the truth is the opposite”said his client, who began his remarks by assuring that his “apologies” with regard to the victims, pronounced on the last day of his interrogations in mid-April, were “sincere”.
“Perpetuity is surely up to the facts but not up to the men who are in the box.”
Salah Abdeslam, accusedin the trial of the attacks of November 13
Before Salah Abdeslam, his co-defendants in the box also urged the court not to follow the requisitions of the Pnat, which declaimedSentences ranging from five years to irreducible life and called for all to be found guilty. “In a few days, my son will celebrate his 7th birthday, I intend to celebrate his birthday with him for the first time”declared Yassine Atar, repeating that he had nothing to do with his brother Osama Atar, the sponsor of the attacks who is one of the six defendants tried in their absence.
With the exception of Osama Krayem, who kept silent as he did for a while.ant most of the trial, many had words for the civil parties. “I wanted to strongly condemn these attacks and apologize to the victims. I did not do this before because I felt that these words had no place in the face of their pain”declared Mohamed Bakkali, considered as one of the logisticians of the commandos and already convicted in the foiled attack on the Thalys. “I don’t think we can be the same after these 10 months of trial, after everything we’ve heard”said Sofien Ayari, one of Salah Abdeslam’s companions on the run.
“I don’t know if I can wish the civil parties to forget because I don’t know if it’s possible. But I wish them to be able to turn the page.”
Sofien Ayari, accusedin the trial of the attacks of November 13
“Your testimonies touched me a lot, I will carry them in my heart until the end of my days, you taught me courage, I respect humility and forgiveness”said Farid Kharkhach, accused of having provided false papers to the 13-November cell and who never ceased to proclaim his innocence during the trial. “It was very difficult for me to watch the victims”recognized Mohamed Abrini, known to be “the man in the hat” of the attacks in Brussels in March 2016. “I once again apologize to them. what I hope is that they can rebuild themselves.”
Mohamed Abrini also apologized to Abdellah Chouaa, who is one of the three defendants appearing free at this trial. These are the conveyors, those who incur less severe penalties. But they said on the stand their “shame” to be associated with these attacks. “I’m mad at you Mohammad [Abrini]you destroyed my life, I don’t know if I will ever forgive you”launched in tears Abdellah Chouaa. “I am very afraid of your decisiontold the court the accused, against whom the prosecution requested six years in prison with a warrant of committal. I’m so scared you’re making a mistake, I’m innocent, I’m not a terrorist. Admittedly, I accompanied Mohamed Abrini to the airport, but I never knew what he had in mind.”
“Innocent or not, I will always remain a defendant in this trial. My name is linked to this trial and I suffer from it.”
Abdellah Chouaa, accusedin the trial of the attacks of November 13
Ali Oulkadi, who rented a garden shed in the Paris suburbs with Abdellah Chouaa to be able to attend the trial, as his lawyer Marie Dosé pointed out during his argument, “hope”, him, that “this label will not stick to [ses] children. I do not understand how one can adhere to these ideas which have wasted thousands of lives, sown death and sadness”.
Rarely in an assize trial of this scale, links have been forged over the weeks between these free defendants and certain civil parties. Abdellah Chouaa thanked them for coming to him, “every morning before the resumption of the hearing”. “I wish them the best, I hope they manage to overcome all this”supported before him Hamza Attou, who was in the car that brought Salah Abdeslam from Paris to Brussels on the evening of November 13.
After these final speeches, President Jean-Louis Périès declared the debates “finished”. The Special Assize Court of Paris retired to deliberate for two and a half days. The verdict is expected Wednesday evening.