France to open biggest trial in its legal history over 2015 ISIS terror attacks in Paris

France will open one of the biggest cases in modern legal history involving the November 2015 terrorist attacks on Paris. At least 130 people at the bars, eateries, and the Bataclan concert hall were brutally killed after a suicide bomber, having links with Islamic State terror group (IS) detonated an explosive, which was followed by gun assaults by three more jihadists. The court at the Ile de la Cite in central Paris will commence the trial with 14 of the 20 defendants.

The only survivor among the assailants, Salah Abdeslam, will have a court hearing over the traumatic assault on the civilians which was masterminded by the IS terrorists from Syria. The latter was known to have ‘supplied guns' used in the 2015 Paris attack and left the explosive belt on the scene that was found defected. The 20 alleged members of the IS cell had also planned a similar terrorist attack in Britain but had dropped the plan due to 'more advanced secret service' and 'better surveillance' as per the reports. 

[Salah Abdeslam. Credit: AP]

The case is expected to last for at least 9 months starting May 2022 and will involve as many as 330 attorneys and testimony by ex-president Francois Hollande. The court will deliver a verdict to impart justice to the 300 victims who lost their lives in the deadly bombing. Casefile consists of hefty 542 volumes and measures 53 meters. Salah Abdeslam, the Belgium-born French Moroccan terrorist who last appeared at court in his hometown of Brussels, was detained by the law enforcement authorities on March 18, 2016, in the same neighbourhood. All the Islamic State terrorists had grown up in Brussels. Europe’s most wanted fugitive, Abdelslam, had managed to escape the scene of the carnage amid the police gunfires while others in the 10-man Islamic State cell had succumbed to retaliatory fire. 

"Everyone has their own expectations, but we know that this is an important milestone for our future lives," Arthur Denouveaux, a survivor of the Bataclan music venue attack and president of the Life for Paris victims' association said in a statement.

One of the deadliest terror attacks in Europe since World War II was planned by IS operational commander Abdelhamid Abaaoud from the neighbourhood of Molenbeek in Brussels, a recruiting ground for IS, Associated Press reveals. The court handed multiple life sentences to several of those accused in one of the most devastating terror attacks witnessed in France's history. The pre-trial interviews with prosecutors revealed that the terrorists had planned to travel to Britain in July 2015, and carry out attacks in crowded places such as Old Trafford, the home stadium of Manchester United Football Club, and the Arndale shopping centre. 

[In this courtroom sketch the lawyers of the accused, from left, Isa Gultaslar, Laura Severin, Romain Delcoigne and Sven Mary attend a trial at the Brussels Justice Palace in Brussels in 2018. Credit: AP]

Many accused killed in airstrikes in Syria

“When the night of carnage in Paris — Nov. 13, 2015 — finally ended, seven attackers were dead and three were on the run: Abdeslam, Abaaoud, and another Molenbeek native named Chakib Akrouh. Abdeslam called friends in Brussels to drive through the night and pick him up,” Associated Press reported, adding that the fled terrorist’s cousin, Hasna Ait Belkacem, who lived in a suburb of Paris offered to help and secured a room in the Paris neighbourhood of Saint-Denis. However, his friend Ait Belkacem tipped the French investigators into a building that was cordoned off and Jawad Bendaoud, the landlord who rented the room was taken under arrest on LIVE TV. Cops then detained the terror accused.

[The empty bench of the accused, Salah Abdeslam and Sofiane Ayari, at the Brussels justice palace in Brussels. Credit: AP]

The 36-year-old had managed to be on the run for over 4 years. It remains to be seen if he speaks at the scheduled testimony in mid-January 2022 as thus far he has only told the court that he puts “his trust in Allah” accusing the court to be biased. At least 14 others are accused in the case of providing logistical support, assisting in planning and weapons offences, and six more suspects will be tried on absentia. Two French jihadist brothers Fabien and Jean-Michel Clain along with many others accused have been killed in the airstrikes in Syria, reports suggest. 

IMAGE: AP