Final sentences. Salah Abdeslam, sentenced to incompressible life imprisonment for his role in the attacks of November 13, did not appeal his sentence, announced the Attorney General of Paris, Rémy Heitz, Tuesday July 12. “None of the 20 defendants appealed”, he said. And to conclude: “There will therefore be no appeal trial.”
The ten-day appeal period expired Monday at midnight. On June 29, and after almost ten months of a trial “historical”Salah Abdeslam had become the fifth man in France sentenced to life imprisonment, the highest penalty in the Penal Code which makes any possibility of release minimal.
“This does not mean that he adheres to the verdict and the incompressible sentence which results from it, but that he resigns himself to it”explained his lawyers Olivia Ronen and Martin Vettes in a statement posted on Twitter. “If such a sentence is unacceptable, we respect the decision of the one we assist.”
—Olivia Ronen (@OliRonen) July 12, 2022
“The absence of an appeal, and therefore of a second trial, will above all be a satisfaction for very many victims”also reacted Georges Salines, father of Lola, one of the 131 victims linked to the attacks of November 13, 2015. And to salute “a demonstration of French justice that will mark the spirits for a long time, in France and abroad”.
The absence of an appeal, and therefore of a second trial, will above all be a satisfaction for a large number of victims. V13 was definitely an extraordinary trial, and a demonstration of French justice that will mark the spirits for a long time, in France and abroad. 7/
— Georges Salines (@GeorgesSalines) July 12, 2022
Beyond Salah Abdeslam, the 19 other defendants, five of whom were presumed dead were tried in their absence, were sentenced to terms ranging from two years’ imprisonment to life.