Leading defendant in Paris attacks trial breaks silence

For six years he hardly commented on the crime, now he has broken the silence: at the trial for the Paris attacks in November 2015, main defendant Salah Abdeslam explained for the first time in detail about his role during the night of terror. “It’s my last chance to speak,” the 32-year-old Frenchman said in court on Thursday night.

130 people were killed in the attacks motivated by jihadists on November 13, 2015. Abdeslam is the last surviving member of the terrorist squads.

Abdeslam explained that he was originally the target of a suicide bomb attack on a bar in Paris’ 18th arrondissement. “I go to the bar, I order a drink, I look at the people around me and I say, ‘No, I’m not going to do that,'” he told the court. dancing, I knew I wouldn’t.”

Abdeslam initially told his friends that his explosive belt had failed. “That was a lie,” he said in court. He was ashamed to tell the truth. “I refrained from doing this out of humanity, not out of fear,” emphasized the accused.

During cross-examination, lawyers for the joint plaintiffs pointed out several inconsistencies. Abdeslam said he couldn’t remember which bar it was. “We have a hard time believing you,” said lawyer Didier Seban. “If you don’t like that truth, I don’t care,” snapped Abdeslam, who declined to testify in an earlier interrogation.

“We have a hard time believing you”

Abdeslam also claimed that he only received the order two days before the attacks. He didn’t know that the other criminals wanted to attack in street cafes and the Bataclan concert hall.

On a confiscated computer, investigators found evidence of another planned attack on the Paris Metro and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. In the confession letter from the Islamic State jihadist organization, however, there was talk of an attack in the 18th arrondissement. What mission Abdeslam was actually intended for remains unclear, even after his most recent statements.

On November 13, 2015, three men equipped with explosive belts killed 130 people at the Bataclan concert hall, opposite cafes and restaurants in central Paris and near a football stadium. 350 other people were injured. The nine assassins are dead, Abdeslam was the only one who got rid of his explosive belt and fled the night of the crime.

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The process started in September. Twenty men are charged, six of whom are absent. In addition to Abdeslam, four men were accused of allegedly being used in attacks. The other defendants allegedly provided logistical assistance by helping Abdeslam escape or obtaining false documents.