Six years after the largest terrorist attack on French soil, the largest trial in the legal history of France begins this week, in a special room and with the presence of the only living terrorist who was directly involved in the attacks in Paris.
Salah Abdeslam is the only terrorist who actively participated in the attacks on 13 November 2015 on the D gate of the Stade de France football stadium in Saint Denis, cafes and restaurants in two districts of the capital and the Bataklan concert hall, which houses 130 people. died, over 4,000 were injured, and he survived.
The Belgian of Moroccan origin helped prepare coordinated attacks, left his comrades in the Stade de France to carry out an attack claimed by the Islamic State terrorist group, but eventually threw away his own vest with explosives.
After his arrest in early 2016, Abdeslam remained silent, refusing to cooperate with the authorities, saying only that what he did was done at the request of his brother Brahim, who died in the attacks. He will now appear in public and be interrogated for his crimes.
In the dock, which will begin on Wednesday, there are 13 more accused of involvement in organizing the terrorist attacks. Six people will be put on trial without knowing their whereabouts, for a total of 20 accused.
In terms of casualties, at least 1,765 people acted as civilians, that is, directly affected by the attack. Among them are the wounded, as well as the families of the victims, as well as all the people who witnessed the terror that night in the Stade de France and in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.
A total of 330 lawyers will directly intervene in the process, some of them will defend the alleged terrorists, but most of them belong to the prosecution. Some of the best law firms in the capital defend victim associations, other individual victims, or even groups of victims that do not belong to associations.
Unlike many serious crimes in France, terrorist crimes do not have a jury.
Thus, the case will be heard by five judges and four additional judges in case changes arise during the hearing.
To provide such logistics, a special hall with a capacity of more than 500 people and an area of 750 square meters for the public was built in the old Palais de Justice in Paris, next to Notre Dame Cathedral.
10 cameras will be installed, which will constantly record the process, and the hearings will be relayed to 10 rooms, where victims, lawyers and journalists will observe the process.
The main hall will also be used in the trial of the Nice attack on July 14, 2016. The trial in this case is due to begin in September 2022.
As for the terrorist attacks in Paris, the trial has 542 volumes, about a million pages of investigations and evidence.
Hearings must last at least eight months with approximately 145 trial days.
To protect everyone involved in the trial, the trial will take place in a high-security environment with heavy security on the Isle of Cite, where the Palace of Justice is located.
The security perimeter will be set until May 25, the day of the sentencing, allowing only authorized persons such as victims, lawyers or journalists to access the palace’s surroundings.
