Trial of 2015 jihadist attacks starts in Paris amid high security

The trial of 20 men accused of involvement in a jihadist rampage across Paris in 2015 began under high security in the French capital on Wednesday, with the man widely believed to be the only surviving attacker appearing in a black mask.

Some 130 people were killed and hundreds wounded when gunmen with suicide vests attacked six bars and restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and a sports stadium on Nov 13, 2015, leaving deep scars on the nation's psyche.

Police mounted tight security around the Palais de Justice courthouse in central Paris, and survivors and relatives of the victims said they were impatient to hear testimony that might help them better understand what happened and why it did so.

The accused will appear behind a reinforced glass partition in a purpose-built courtroom. Among them was French-Moroccan Salah Abdeslam, 31, who arrived in the courtroom dressed all in black, including with a black face mask.

Journalists work in front of the temporary courtroom set up at during the start of the trial of the Paris' November 2015 attacks at the Paris courthouse on the Ile de la Cite, in Paris, France, Sept 8, 2021. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

"It is important that the victims can bear witness, can tell the perpetrators, the suspects who are on the stand, about the pain," Philippe Duperron, whose 30-year-old son Thomas was killed in the attacks, told Reuters.

"We are also awaiting anxiously because we know that as this trial takes place the pain, the events, everything will come back to the surface," said Duperron, who is the president of a victims' association and will testify at the trial.

The trial will last nine months, with about 1,800 plaintiffs and more than 300 lawyers taking part in what Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti has described as an unprecedented judicial marathon.

The 20 defendants include 11 who are already in jail pending trial. Six will be tried in absentia - most of them are believed to be dead.

Abdeslam is widely reported to have remained silent during the investigation and survivors and relatives of those killed said they did not expect to hear much from him.

"What I care about in the trial is the testimony of other survivors, people who were in the terraces (that were targeted by the attackers), at the Stade de France, hear how they have been coping over the past six years," said 48-year-old Jerome Barthelemy. "As for the accused, I don't even expect them to speak."

THREAT

Most of the accused face life imprisonment if convicted. The other suspects are accused of helping to provide guns and cars or playing a role in organising the attacks.

Olivia Ronen and Martin Vettes, lawyers of Salah Abdeslam, one of the accused, who is widely believed to be the only surviving member of the group suspected of carried out the attacks, arrive for the start of the trial of the Paris' November 2015 attacks at the Paris courthouse on the Ile de la Cite, in Paris, France, Sept 8, 2021. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Responsibility for the killings was claimed by Islamic State, which had urged its followers to attack France over its involvement in the fight against the group in Iraq and Syria.

The first days of the trial are expected to be largely procedural, with plaintiffs being registered, though judges may read a summary of how the attacks unfolded.

Victims' testimonies are set to start on Sept.28, with one week devoted to the attacks on the Stade de France and cafes, and four to the Bataclan.

The questioning of the accused will start in November but they are not set to be questioned on the night of the attacks and the week before them until March.

A verdict is expected in late May.

More than 1,000 police will be devoted to ensuring the security of the trial and all people allowed into the specially-built courtroom will have to pass through several checkpoints.

"The terrorist threat in France is high, especially at times like the attacks' trial," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France Inter radio.