A total of 130 people were killed on November 13, 2015, and thousands were injured when a group of terrorists stormed the Bataclan concert hall in the Stade de France, France’s national stadium, and six local bars and restaurants.
Under draconian security measures has been going on for many months the largest criminal trial in the history of France which has started since September 2021. The area around the Courthouse in the heart of Paris is top safety belt with dozens of police officers guarding the building. More than 20 people are on trial for the largest terrorist attack on French soil after World War II, six of whom are missing or rumored to have died.
In total 130 people lost their lives on November 13, 2015 and thousands were injured when a group of terrorists stormed in armed at the Bataclan Concert Hall in the Stade de France, the national stadium of France, and in six local bars and restaurants. The responsibility for these attacks had been taken by Islamic state, which had called on its followers to attack France for its involvement in the war against the jihadist organization in Iraq and Syria. «I had absolutely no expectations from the process, but now I’m really happy that I played an active role in the trial – that means I did not remain apatheticSaid 30-year-old David Fritz Gπινppinger, one of the 2,000 plaintiffs who appeared at the trial, in an interview with DW.
Image of massacre in Bataklan
«“It was like waiting in line for hell.” the French-Chilean photographer described the events of that night during his testimony. He continues to have nightmares after the terrorist attack. «I told myself you were going to die now, so I started praying to leave with dignity“, Remembers the photographer who was in Bataklan that night. From the beginning of the trial o Fritz Gπινppingercollaborating with the website France Info, publishes one photo a day from the trial, thus paying tribute to the victims of November 13th.
A similar picture is described by police officer Kampos in an interview with DW. “When we went in we saw a picture of a massacre,” he said. “There were corpses everywhere, there was the smell of blood and gunpowder and you could not see the floor because of the pools of blood”. Michelle Campos’s unit was the first to arrive at the scene of the attack, but her testimonies were not included in official police reports. «Neither the official reports nor the preliminary investigations later mentioned the role we took on that day and when I started talking about it they called me a liar. I was blacklisted and it was impossible for me to be promoted“, He states. To date, there is no official explanation as to why the names of these police officers do not appear in the official reports of the case.
During the trial the accused also testified. For ten of them, the prosecution is seeking life imprisonment. Among them are the so-called moral perpetrators, who are however considered dead in Syria. In addition, associates of the terrorists who allegedly provided them with weapons and documents before the attack, such as Salah Abdeslam, who was in the French capital that day with the terrorists, are also on trial. He made contradictory statements in court, initially claiming that he is “Supporter of the Islamic State”while later apologized to the victims and their families.
France’s democratic response to terrorism.
For Arthur Denouvo, who is one of the survivors of the attack and president of the victims’ organization “Life for Paris”, the trial is the democratic response of France to these blatant terrorist attacks. «The trial has shown that France has a legal system that knows how to judge such atrocities and that terrorism is a non-heroic impasse. This may seem obvious, but there are still young people who are attracted to Islamist terrorism“, He said in an interview with DW. «I hope that now everyone understands that terrorism has no future and that such attacks must stop now».
Today’s verdict will pave the way for the next step, both for the victims and for France itself. “After that we survivors may finally stop seeing ourselves as victims and eventually turn to other things in life.”said Denovo.
Kampos believes that this process has therapeutic significance, both for his country and for himself. After the attacks, he started attending anti-terrorism seminars and then delivering himself, as he believes that they themselves had made many mistakes that night, while they could have prevented them. He even intends to continue the seminars, while he decided to leave his job. “I asked to leave the police. “I realized how difficult it is to change such a sluggish system.” “We all have to be much more careful than before to make sure this never happens again.”says David Fritz Gπινppinger, who is deeply convinced that terrorism will not win.
THE A special room, built just for the needs of the trial, cost eight million euros. The whole process is videotaped, a fact rare for the French judicial system, which has followed the videotaping process only twelve times in the country’s history. What remains to be seen is what will ultimately be the outcome of this tumultuous trial.
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