The court sentenced the Islamic State executor to life imprisonment – Salah Abdeslam is one of the 19 terrorists who killed 130 people in coordinated attacks across Paris on the night of November 13, 2015.
Salah Abdeslam, the main accused in the jihadist attacks of November 13, 2015 in France, was sentenced tonight to unchanged life imprisonment by the Special Court of Appeal of Paris.
The five judges accepted the proposal of the anti-terrorism prosecutor, who had requested the imposition of this rare sentence, on the basis of which it becomes unlikely that Abdeslam will be released after serving part of his sentence. Only four times in the past has such a sentence been imposed by French courts.
Abdeslam was the only surviving member of the jihadist group that carried out the deadly attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis, killing 130 people. He was found guilty by a court of terrorism and homicide.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks. The focus was on the Bataclan concert hall, six bars and restaurants, and the area around the Stade de France.
The trial, which took place in a specially designed room of the historic Paris Courthouse, lasted nine months.
The court found the 20 defendants guilty on all charges (except one who was acquitted of the terrorism charge) and sentenced them to 2 years to life in prison. Mohamed Abrini, the “man in the hat” who was also charged with the suicide attacks in Brussels in March next year, was sentenced to life in prison with a suspension of 22 years. Six of the accused were tried in absentia.
Abdeslam claimed in the trial that he decided at the last minute not to detonate the explosives with which he was wearing. However, based on the investigation and the testimonies, the court ruled that in fact the belt did not explode due to a malfunction.
At the beginning of the trial, the 32-year-old French-born Frenchman had proudly stated that he was a “soldier” of the Islamic State.
On the night of the bloodshed in Paris, the group of terrorists, invaded 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.
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