Salah Abdeslam is one of 19 Islamic State terrorists convicted of killing 130 people and injuring hundreds more in coordinated attacks across the capital on the night of November 13, 2015, in one of the deadliest attacks ever seen in France in peacetime. The 32-year-old has been in prison since his arrest in Belgium in 2016. He will now spend the rest of his life in prison without the prospect of early release – the harshest sentence possible under the French judiciary. The rest helped plan the attacks – their crimes ranged from providing weapons and cars to the attackers to planning to take part in the massacre themselves. All but one of the defendants were found guilty of all charges. Farid Kharkhach was not found guilty of terrorism but of collaborating with criminals. The sentencing marked the end of the longest-running criminal trial in post-war French history, which has been taking place since September in a specially designed courtroom at the Palace of Justice in Paris – with more than 2,000 plaintiffs and more than 300 lawyers. Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attacks and had urged supporters to attack France for its involvement in the fight against the militant group in Iraq and Syria. Image: Salah Abdeslam, 32, was sentenced to life in prison. Photo: AP The perpetrators detonated bombs outside the Stade de France, which hosted an international friendly between France and Germany. the Bataclan concert hall, where the American band Eagles of Death Metal played. and opened fire on restaurants in restaurants across the French capital. Wednesday’s verdicts conclude a 10-month trial in which a special court was set up to try 14 of the men in person and six others in absentia, who are considered either dead or missing while fighting for the Islamic State in Syria. Salah Abdeslam’s brother Brahim also took part in the attacks, but blew himself up at night after shooting dead young Parisians drinking and eating in cafes. Five judges heard evidence from more than 2,000 witnesses, including more than a million pages of evidence, 300 lawyers and testimonies from European counterterrorism staff. Image: Salah Abdeslam (R) is widely believed to be the only surviving member of the group suspected of carrying out the attacks Relatives of the dead and witnesses of the attacks lived months of horrific evidence hoping to finally find the truth and justice. “It’s been 10 months, but I think we can be proud of what we have achieved,” said Arthur Denouveaux, a Bataclan survivor who killed 90 people, and the president of Life for Paris, a victims. relationship. “The victims, including myself, had very low expectations for the trial. “The trial went beyond anything we wanted, because the terrorists spoke, the terrorists responded in a way to our testimonies, it was so unexpected, it never happens in terrorist trials.” Image: 130 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in the coordinated attacks “I changed my mind,” the terrorist claimed At the start of the trial in November 2021, Abdeslam defiantly gave up his profession as an “Islamic State fighter.” But in recent weeks, as the trial ended, he apologized and claimed he had deliberately thrown away his suicide vest to prevent more people from dying. “I go into the cafe, order a drink, look at the people around me and say to myself, ‘No, I will not,’” he told the court. “I changed my mind out of humanity, not out of fear.” Image: The first devices were fired outside the Stade de France – with spectators advancing on the pitch. Photo: AP On Monday, as the trial ended, he tried to apologize to the victims, claiming he was not a murderer. However, French lawyers for the police and the prosecutor’s office said that his suicide belt was found to be defective and that this indicates a more probable reason why he did not fire it. Abdeslam, a French national who grew up in Belgium and has Moroccan roots, escaped for four months but was eventually found hiding in the Molenbeek district of Brussels, near his family home. “I am relieved that the trial is over,” Denouveaux added, “because it means that justice has been done and it means that this trial is behind me and I can go on with my life.” Image: Fourteen people were tried in person and another six in absentia. Image AP Abdeslam’s life sentence “a relief for all of France” Survivors, victims’ families and top politicians are reacting to a French court ruling on Wednesday. The mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo said: “Justice has been served. Against inhumanity, it is the power of our democracy to respond with justice to the attacks that have plunged our city and country into mourning. Paris remembers and will always stand by the victims. and their families. “ Meanwhile, Bataklan survivor Denouveaux, a survivor and head of a victims’ association, described the verdict as “fair”. “When such things happen, you can not have compensation, but you can have justice. Justice can not cure everything, but puts an exclamation mark at the end. It was certainly justice, but it does not cure everything.” Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally party, said: “Salah Abdeslam’s life sentence is a relief to all of France. Tonight I have a thought for all the relatives of the victims, whose pain will never cease. “The task now is to eradicate Islamist fundamentalism.”
