Today in Paris, a special criminal court announced its verdicts in the terror trial of the November 13, 2015 attacks in and around Paris that claimed 130 lives. Salah Abdeslam, the principal defendant and the only surviving member of the terror team that struck the Bataclan nightclub, the Stadium of France, and outdoor cafes on that fateful evening, received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Nineteen other sentences ranged from 2 years to life with a minimum of 22 years to be served.
The below article from today's France Bleu is translated by Fousesquawk.
November 13 trial: Salah Abdeslam sentenced to life with no parole
Wednesday 29 June 2022 at 20:23. Updated Wednesday 29 June 2022 at 21:18 by Morgane Heuclin- Reffait, France Bleu, Paris
This is the epilogue of almost 10 months of trial, more than 6 years after the attacks of November 13, 2015. Salah Abdeslam, the sole survivor of the commando, is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Caption: The special criminal court delivered its verdict Wednesday evening after about 10 months of trial for the attacks of November 13, 2015 (photo@ Maxppp-Daniel Fouray)
Salah Abdeslam, the sole survivor of the November 13, 2015 attack commando, is sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. The special criminal court found him guilty of "murders as part of an organized gang in connection to a terrorist enterprise" Wednesday evening. It is the heaviest sentence provided by the penal code, which makes any possibility of release minimal. The court, thus, followed the recommendations of the prosecution.
"The culpability of Salah Abdeslam as to being a co-perpetrator of the acts of murder in relation to a terrorist enterprise has been upheld insofar as the court has considered that the targets altogether should be recognized as one and the same scene of the crime," stated the president of the court in beginning the announcement of the verdict. The court has concluded that the explosive belt that Salah Abdeslam "was wearing was not functional, which puts his declarations as to backing out seriously in question."
Sentences from 2 years to life without parole
All of the accused, with the exception of one, Fraid Kharkhach, were found guilty on all the counts of the indictment. The other 19 defendants are sentenced to sentences ranging from 2 years in prison for Farid Kharkhach to life without parole for the Clain brothers, presumed dead in Syria. Among them, the three who appeared in court free under judicial supervision, are not subject to an order of (custody): That means that they will benefit from an adjustment of sentence.
In his final appearance before the court on Monday, Salah Abdeslam had again reiterated his "sincere" apologies to the victims. "I am not an assassin, I am not a killer," he had stressed from the defendant's dock. The defense attorney of Salah Abdeslam had recalled in his pleading that life without parole has been given only 4 times in France, against men recognized as "psychopaths" and sentenced for crimes committed against minors.
As for Mohamed Abrini, childhood friend of Salah Abdeslam, he was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 22 years to be served, as the prosecution asked for, found guilty of complicity in murders and attempted murders. He also spoke a lot during the hearing(s), acknowledging that he had been, "scheduled for November 13," before he backed out, of which he did not provide any explanations.
End of a (very long) trial
This is the epilogue of 149 days of hearings for the court, the survivors, and relatives of the victims of the November 13, 2015 attacks. Salah Abdeslam is the only one of the 14 accused present before the court who took part in the commando that raged through the outdoor cafes, the Bataclan, and the Stadium of France. Six other accused, of whom 5 are presumed dead, were sentenced in absentia. On June 10, the prosecution had requested sentences ranging from 5 years in prison to life for the 20 defendants.
These last (defendants) still have the possibility of appealing their sentences for 10 days. As for 9 other members of the kamikaze commando, they died the evening of the attacks, killed while setting off their explosive belts or killed by police gunshots.
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