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Trial of men accused in 2015 Paris attacks begins

Trial

The lone survivor of the extremist cell from that night, Salah Abdeslam, is the key defendant in this trial whose brother was one of the suicide bombers from that night. The same IS terrorist network went on to strike Brussels months later, killing another 32 people. The Associated Press has the story:

When asked to state his name, Salah Abdeslam, said a prayer first then declared he was a fighter for Islamic State

PARIS (AP) — In a custom-built secure complex embedded within a 13th-century courthouse, France on Wednesday opened the trial of 20 men accused in the Islamic State group’s 2015 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, and hundreds injured.

FILE – This is a an undated handout image made available by Belgium Federal Police of Salah Abdeslam who was wanted in connection to the attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015. France is putting on trial 20 men accused in the Nov. 13, 2015, Islamic State terror attacks on Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured . Twenty men are charged, but only 14 will be on trial. Chief among them is Salah Abdeslam, who ditched his car and a malfunctioning suicide vest and ultimately fled to a hideout in his hometown of Brussels. (Belgium Federal Police via AP, File)

Nine gunmen and suicide bombers struck within minutes of each other at France’s national soccer stadium, the Bataclan concert hall and Paris restaurants and cafes on Nov. 13, 2015. Survivors of the attacks as well as those who mourn their dead packed the rooms, which were designed to hold 1,800 plaintiffs and over 300 lawyers.

The lone survivor of the extremist cell from that night, Salah Abdeslam, is the key defendant. Abdeslam, whose brother was among the suicide bombers that night, appeared wearing black short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, his long hair tied back.

FILE – In this Nov. 13, 2015, file photo, a woman is evacuated from the Bataclan concert hall after a shooting in Paris. In an enormous custom-designed chamber, France is putting on trial 20 men accused in the Nov. 13, 2015, Islamic State terror attacks on Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. Nine gunmen and suicide bombers struck within minutes of each other at the national soccer stadium, the Bataclan concert hall and restaurants and cafes. Salah Abdeslam, the lone survivor of the terror cell from that night is among those being tried for the deadliest attack in France since World War II. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

He was the first asked to identify himself and, after intoning a prayer, requested to state his profession, declared he was “a fighter for Islamic State.”

Abdeslam is the only one charged with murder. The same IS network went on to strike Brussels months later, killing another 32 people.

The presiding judge, Jean-Louis Peries, acknowledged the extraordinary circumstances of the events of that night and the nine-month trial to come.

“The events that we are about to decide are inscribed in their historic intensity as among the international and national events of this century,” he said.

FILE – In this Nov. 15, 2015 file photo a bird flies in front of the Eiffel Tower ,which remained closed on the first of three days of national mourning, in Paris. Thousands of French troops deployed around Paris on Sunday and tourist sites stood shuttered in one of the most visited cities on Earth while investigators questioned the relatives of a suspected suicide bomber involved in the country’s deadliest violence since World War II. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza, File)

Dominique Kielemoes, whose son bled to death at one of the cafes, said the month dedicated to  victims’ testimonies at the trial will be crucial to both their own healing and that of the nation.

“The assassins, these terrorists, thought they were firing into the crowd, into a mass of people. But it wasn’t a mass — these were individuals who had a life, who loved, had hopes and expectations, and that we need to talk about at the trial. It’s important.” she said,

Twenty men are charged, but six of them will be tried in absentia. Abdeslam, who abandoned his rental car in northern Paris and discarded a malfunctioning suicide vest before fleeing home to Brussels, has refused to speak with investigators. But he holds the answers to many of the remaining questions about the attack and the people who planned it, both in Europe and abroad.

FILE – In this Nov.14, 2015 file photo a man holds his head in his hands as he lays flowers in front of the Carillon cafe, in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

The modern courtroom was constructed within the storied 13th-century Palais de Justice in Paris, where Marie Antoinette and Emile Zola faced trial, among others.

For the first time, victims can also have a secure audio link to listen from home if they want with a 30-minute delay.

The trial is scheduled to last nine months. The month of September will be dedicated to laying out the police and forensic evidence. October will be given over to victims’ testimony. From November to December, officials including former French President François Hollande will testify, as will relatives of the attackers.

FILE – In this Nov. 19, 2015 file photo flowers and candle tributes are placed at the Restaurant Le Carillon in Paris, after last Friday’s attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

Abdeslam will be questioned multiple times. He has so far refused to talk to investigators.

The attacks transformed France, which declared a state of emergency that night and now has armed officers constantly patrolling public spaces. And it changed forever the lives of all those who suffered losses or bore witness to the violence that night.

“Our ability to be carefree is gone,” Kielemoes said. “The desire to go out, travel – all of that’s gone. Even if we still do a number of things, our appetite for life has disappeared.”

FILE – In this Nov. 16, 2015 file photo people gather in front of Le Carillon cafe, a site of the recent attacks, in Paris. French President Francois Hollande says the Paris attacks targeted “youth in all its diversity” and that the victims were of 19 different nationalities. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

For Jean-Luc Wertenschlag, who lives above the cafe where her son died and who rushed downstairs soon after the first gunshots to try and save lives, it has even changed the way he moves around the city where he was born and raised. He never leaves home without the first aid gear he lacked that night, when he ripped off his shirt to stanch the bleeding of a victim.

“What we did that evening with other people, to provide assistance to the people wounded during the attack, was a way to stand against what these monsters had tried to do to us,” he said.

Among those scheduled to testify is then-President Francois Hollande, who was at the Stade de France at the moment it was attacked and who gave the final order to police special forces to storm the Bataclan.

Security forces guard an entrance of the Palace of Justice Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021 in Paris. France is putting on trial 20 men accused in the Islamic State group’s 2015 attacks on Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. The proceedings begin Wednesday in an enormous custom-designed chamber. Most of the defendants face the maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of complicity in the attacks. Only Abdeslam is charged with murder. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Hollande said Wednesday he would speak “not for the sake of French politics, but for the victims of the attacks.” He said he keenly felt the weight of responsibility that night and for the days and weeks later in the aftermath of the attack.

“When the cameras are turned off, you go back to the solitude of the Elysée (presidential palace),” Hollande told told France-Info. “You ask what can I do? … Is what just happened going to change society?”

Philippe Duperron, who’s son was killed in the Bataclan shooting on Nov.13, 2015, answers reporters outside the special courtroom Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021 in Paris. France on Wednesday will begin the trial of 20 men accused in the Islamic State group’s 2015 attacks on Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. Among the plantiffs are nearly 1,800 victims, including survivors who suffered physical or psychological harm and families whose loved ones died that night. A total of 330 lawyers are representing them and the defendants. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

None of the proceedings will be televised or rebroadcast to the public, but they will be recorded for archival purposes. Video recording has only been allowed for a handful of cases in France considered to be of historical value, including last year’s trial for the 2015 attacks against the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris and a kosher supermarket.

By LORI HINNANT and NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY

Angela Charlton contributed to this report.

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