The appeal of the civil parties will have lasted thirty-five minutes.
An eternity, in view of the customs of a first day of sitting.
Some two hundred names spelled out by the clerk, each of which recalls the weight of grief weighing on the families of the 17 people murdered in January 2015. But also on those of the wounded and witnesses still stunned by such an outburst of violence.
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The trial of the Islamist attacks of the brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly opened Wednesday in Paris.
The courthouse is under siege.
In the Salle des Pas Perdus, Me Richard Malka who, with his partner Lorraine Gay, represents
Charlie Hebdo
, urges the press, which has come in large numbers:
“Let us not be afraid, neither of terrorism nor of freedom.
Basically, Charlie's mind is that: refusing to give up our freedoms, to give up laughter, to give up including blasphemy. "
"The defendants are not lamp workers,"
said the lawyer for relatives of the victims of the Hyper Cacher at the Porte de Vincennes.
I would like us to talk about a word, a word that has disappeared from this procedure, it is “anti-Semitism.” We knew that on that day, we would touch Jews at the most sacred, the most family time. of the week. "
Shortly before 10 a.m., ten defendants take their places in two glass boxes facing each other.
Only one appears free.
Three others are on the run and will be tried by default.
All are masked, so that no particular expression can be deciphered on their faces.
In front of them, their lawyers, too, wear masks, just like the counsels of the civil parties and the magistrates who make up this court without jurors, as the law requires in matters of terrorism.
Due to health constraints that limit the number of places available, the debates are broadcast on large screens in adjoining rooms.
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Only one man present in the box responds with “complicity”: close to Amedy Coulibaly, Ali Riza Polat is a tall, sturdy man who seems nervous.
Will he make any revelations about the Hyper Cacher killer, his allegiance to the Islamic State group, his links with Chérif Kouachi and this text message exchanged shortly before the launch of their murderous actions (*)?
Nothing is less sure.
During the investigation, Mr. Polat, known until then for common law offenses, presented himself as a non-radicalized Muslim and shocked by the attacks.
Indignation
For the time being, his lawyer (who persists in speaking of the
“Chouaki brothers”
) undertakes to question the jurisdiction of the Assize Court on the pretext that it does not sit in the old palace on the island of the city.
Me Isabelle Coutant-Peyre also wishes to obtain additional information, and therefore a postponement of the trial, to clarify a point already clarified elsewhere.
More surprisingly for a defense lawyer, she suggests that third parties be indicted in place of her client.
The result is no surprise: outcry from the civil parties, including ten lawyers succeeding each other to overplay the indignation.
The prosecution, more sober, more precise, is satisfied, through the voice of its two representatives, to ask the court not to uphold the claims of Me Coutant-Peyre.
The President asks if other defense representatives wish to intervene in the incident.
Me Christian Saint-Palais, counsel to one of the accused, stands up:
"I do not associate myself with the demands of Me Coutant-Peyre,"
declares the president of the Association of Criminal Lawyers.
But I do not accept that we qualify the defense's speech as indecent or odious.
Our commitment to the law and our principles is the best response to the violence that has hit our country.
This goes through the word left to the defense, and we intend to defend without reserve and without limit the men who are in the box.
Whatever the stake of these debates, whatever the emotion that we share, it is advisable to remain on legal exchanges and not to fall into the invective. "
After the suspension, the court rejected the request of Me Coutant-Peyre with regard to the location of the foundations and stayed the ruling on the additional information.
Serious affairs will finally be able to begin.
* An unfortunate shortcut could lead us to believe, in our August 31 editions, that they had never met.
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