The fourteen defendants of the trial of the attacks of November 13 present before the special assize court of Paris have a last opportunity to express themselves Monday, June 27 before the professional judges begin their deliberation and deliver their expected verdict. Wednesday evening.
The final hearing of this river trial started in September, the longest in post-war French criminal judicial history, is due to start at 9:30 a.m.
As provided by law, each accused will be invited to speak by President Jean-Louis Périès.
Read alsoNovember 13 trial: Abdeslam's defense pleads against a "
social death penalty
"
Almost silent during the investigation, Salah Abdeslam - the only surviving member of the commandos who caused the death of 130 people in Paris and Saint-Denis on November 13, 2015 - spoke a lot during the hearing.
Salah Abdeslam's "balancing act"
The 32-year-old Frenchman was ambivalent, oscillating between arrogance when he proclaimed himself an "
Islamic State fighter
" on the first day of the hearing and compassion when he presented, with tears streaming down his cheeks, his "
condolences and (his) apologies to all the victims
”.
He explained that he had given up using his explosive belt in a bar in the 18th arrondissement of Paris out of "
humanity
".
“
Whatever people say, this trial would not have been the same at all if Salah Abdeslam had remained silent.
There would have been a deep feeling of failure if that had been the case
, ”said his lawyer Martin Vettes on Friday during the final pleadings.
Not convinced by the "
balancing
act " of Salah Abdeslam, who systematically sought to "
minimize the facts
", the national anti-terrorism prosecution (Pnat) requested incompressible life imprisonment against him, the heaviest sanction allowed by French law, which makes the possibility of release very small.
It is equivalent to a "
slow death sentence
", denounced Salah Abdeslam's other lawyer, Me Olivia Ronen.
Read alsoNovember 13 trial: five years to life required
Another defendant against whom life was requested, with a security period of 22 years, Mohamed Abrini, childhood friend of Salah Abdeslam.
He also spoke a lot during the hearing, acknowledging that he was "
scheduled for November 13
", but he remained stingy with explanations of his renunciation.
Monday's hearing is the last opportunity to clarify his role.
"
He never ceased to doubt
," said his lawyer Marie Violleau last week.
Read alsoTrial of the November 13 attacks: “You must not forget that Mohamed Abrini has given up”
The silence of Krayem, Ayari and Bakkali
Three other defendants against whom the Pnat requested life imprisonment - Osama Krayem, Sofien Ayari and Mohamed Bakkali - preferred to remain silent during the proceedings.
"
Nobody is here to try to understand what happened and to get answers (...) This trial is an illusion
", Osama Krayem had indicated in January by the voice of his lawyer, Me Margaux Durand -Poincloux.
The 29-year-old Swede also refused to attend the hearings except when the civil parties spoke.
“
I have already been sentenced to twenty years
(in Belgium in 2018 for shooting at police officers, editor’s note)
.
There, I risk perpetuity.
And then I go back to Belgium, where there will be a third trial
(in September, for the March 2016 attacks, editor's note)
with the same questions, the same themes, the same people.
I will defend myself like a relentless to pick up 80 years behind?
For guys like me, having hope is dangerous
,” said Tunisian Sofien Ayari to justify his silence.
If it persists, the silence of Osama Krayem and Sofien Ayari, who, according to the prosecution, renounced for unknown reasons to carry out an attack at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport on the same evening as the attacks in Paris and in Saint-Denis, will not allow this gray area of the trial to be lifted.
Mohamed Bakkali explained that his word had "
no value
".
"
I am in a situation where everything is unfavorable (...) Whatever I do, everything will be considered ruse
," he said in January, asserting his right to silence.
The floor will also be given to the nine other defendants appearing before the court since September 8 and against whom sentences ranging from five years' imprisonment to twenty years' imprisonment have been requested.
In addition to these fourteen men, the court judges six people by default, therefore five presumed dead in the Iraqi-Syrian zone.
