His testimony was unpublished, expected, contested. François Hollande was heard for nearly four hours, at the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015, Wednesday November 10. Familiar figure cut into a gray suit, “Mister President” (between 2012 and 2017) is undoubtedly aware that his presence stirred the debates of the special assize court for nearly three hours before his arrival in court.
With other defense lawyers, Martin Méchin had filed conclusions against the hearing of the former president, useless, according to him, to the manifestation of the truth. The court rejected them, finding that “Mr. Hollande was present at the Stade de France, which he is expressly designated by the attackers during the attack on the Bataclan and which he cannot, therefore, be considered as foreign to the facts”.
With solemnity, but also his natural composure, François Hollande, 67 years old, therefore answered the questions, many on the side of the civil parties, almost non-existent emanating from the prosecution on the supposed responsibilities of the State and its services in the occurrence. of these attacks. What was his level of knowledge of the state of the terrorist threat in France before the attacks? “Every day we were under threat. November 12, like November 14”, answers the former head of the socialist state.
“We knew that actions were being prepared, that individuals had placed themselves in the flood of refugees to defeat the vigilance.”
François Hollande, former President of the Republicbefore the special assize court of Paris
What about the surveillance of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the coordinator of the attacks, who precisely took the migrant route to reach Belgium and then France? François Hollande assures that he was not informed of his role in the preparation of attacks until August 2015. Follower of rhetoric, the former tenant of the Elysée makes the questions and answers: “You are going to say to me: ‘Did you know he was in Europe?’ No. Even if he hadn’t come, wouldn’t the attacks have taken place anyway? “
“There was a threat in 2009 [sur le Bataclan]. I was not president on that date, but there had been no consecutive continuation “, he continues. In August 2015, the jihadist Reda Hame, recruit of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, had however revealed to the French judicial authorities that an attack was envisaged against a rock concert hall. “Should we close all places, ban all shows?”, launches François Hollande to lawyer Olivier Morice, surprised that no protective measure has been considered for these cultural places.
What about the non-intervention in Bataclan of the soldiers of Operation Sentinel, present on the scene at the time of the attack? Jean-Marc Delas, lawyer for the Life for Paris association, dares the question: “I was not informed that the Sentinel unit was present and could intervene, but it only respected the instruction, sweeps the presidential witness. It is not up to a Sentinel unit to conduct an operation of this magnitude, but to specialized units. All orders have been properly translated. “
First peripheral, questions then focus on the person and function of François Hollande, named by the terrorists at the Bataclan and in the message of the Islamic State group’s demands. How did he feel when he heard his name echo on the audio tape recorded in the concert hall and played to the audience? “These sentences have led me to reflect on my own responsibility”, he concedes. Without mea culpa, however.
“I’m saying here in court that I would do the exact same thing today.”
François Hollande, former President of the Republicbefore the special assize court of Paris
Samia Maktouf, lawyer for several civil parties, insists: “Can you tell them that everything has been done to prevent these attacks?” Reply : “We did everything we could to pursue, track down these individuals, but we did not have the information which, alas, would have been decisive in preventing the attacks of November 13th. The day before and the day before, there was no additional alert. “
Regarding the foreign policy carried out under his mandate, François Hollande responds indirectly to Salah Abdeslam. The only survivor of the terrorists justified the attacks, at the start of the trial, by the strikes by France in Iraq and Syria. In reality, “the threat is much earlier, with the constitution of a cell in Syria whose objective is to prepare attacks in Europe”, from 2014, recalls François Hollande. He quotes the spokesperson for the Islamic State group, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, who then called for “punish the westerners and the dirty French”.
Olivia Ronen, lawyer for Salah Abdeslam, emphasizes “the effectiveness of counter-discourse in the fight against terrorism with precise chronologies”. “But this timeline bothers me”, points out the penalist. “Do you have in mind the date of Abu Mohammed al-Adnani’s statement? I can help you, September 21, 2014. And the date of the first French strikes in Iraq?” “Rather at the end of September”, retorts François Hollande, looking at his notes. “Me, I have rather September 19”, opposes Olivia Ronen.
The exchange then tends on the subject of possible “collateral victims” of these strikes, one of the arguments of jihadist propaganda. “The instructions were that there should not be any. I did not know of any collateral victims, I cannot verify it, annoys the former president. And even if there would have been, it can in no way justify “ these attacks.
Questioned on the fact that “some of the attackers” grew up on French soil, François Hollande refuses to see it as the failure of the “educational system” and of “the Republic”, privileging “effective propaganda” on “individuals who were tottering in their lives”. For the former head of state, his presence at this trial “historical” is the very sign of a French democracy “stronger than barbarism”. François Hollande chooses to end his testimony with a satisfecit: “We are proud to have dismantled an extremely powerful terrorist group like Daesh.” But the one who gave up standing for succession in 2012 agrees: “We won a battle, not the war.”