At the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015, Marie Mescam, lawyer at the Bordeaux bar, begins her pleading on Wednesday on behalf of nine civil parties residing in New Aquitaine. “In particular, I represent a little Girondin boy who lost his dad at the Bataclan.one of 130 victims of the attacks.
“A client of mine, Alice, always dreads getting shot in the throat”
Among the nine victims of the Bataclan that Marie Mescal defends, “two died and seven survived but still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder“. These civil parties have a profile “varied”, “like the public of the Eagles of Death Metal that evening. Senior executives, students, parents from Bordeaux, young people from the Basque Country or even a resident of Poitiers.”
“It’s the blood, it’s the screams, it’s the bullets”
These Bataclan survivors testified to “their encounter with death, of the encounter with horror and terror”. “It was given to hear the soundtrack of the attack”. A camera that lasted two hours until the attack of the BRI. “These are cries, pleas, screams, sounds of weapons, bursts of Kalashnikovs”details the Bordeaux lawyer specializing in personal injury.
“We are not made to live this and we cannot recover from it”
Alice, one of Marie Mescam’s clients, testified last week before the special assize court. This survivor of November 13 described “the sound of bullets” drawn in the room of the Bataclan. “It’s like during a storm. First you see the lightning and then you hear the thunder. Seven years later, she still fears the impact of the ball”.
“We remain haunted by these testimonies”
For lawyer Me. Mescam, “the most significant moment” of the trial started in September 2021 was the collection of the speeches of the civil parties. This sequence lasted for many months and every day, 10 to 20 victims came to testify to say what they had experienced. “For them, even seven years later, it’s as if everything happened yesterday. Post-traumatic syndrome is the past that never ceases to be present.
“Happiness is gone”
“For most of my clients, their last moments of happiness is the third song of the concert that night”confides Marie Mescam, herself “haunted“by the hearings of the survivors and the exhibits of the investigation produced during the trial. “Each of us remembers what he was doing that evening. We were all struck by this horror”.
The longest criminal hearing in French history
With more than 1,700 civil parties, 330 lawyers and a million-page investigation file, “this historic trial“entered Monday, May 23 in its last phase with the pleadings of the civil parties which will last until June 7.
The requisitions of the general attorneys will be held from June 8 to 10 before the defense pleadings from June 13. The special assize court should begin its deliberation on June 27. The 14 defendants (present), including Salah Abdeslam, will then be able to speak. The verdict is expected on June 29.