French prosecutors on Friday, June 10, 2022, laid out their demands for sentences in the historic Paris trial of 20 men suspected of critical roles in France’s worst peacetime attacks, by the Islamic State (IS) group, which claimed the lives of 130 people on November 13, 2015.
Prosecutors recommended a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the main suspect named, Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the group that carried out the attacks. The request for no chance of parole is rare in France, where prisoners on life sentences are often released after 20 to 25 years.
Again, on trial are 19 others accused of various degrees of assistance to the killers. For three of them, prosecutors requested standard life sentences – two for high-ranking IS group members thought to have been killed in Syria or Iraq, and one for Mohamed Abrini, a Belgian accused of having provided weapons and logistical support.
Killers Bloodthirsty Fury Without Limit
In a submission by one of the prosecutors, Nicolas Le Bris, “Those who committed these heinous crimes are nothing more than lowlife terrorists and criminals,”, he told the court on Friday, June 10, 2022, at the end of three days of closing statements by the prosecution, adding that “The bloodthirsty fury of these criminals was without limit”.
Abdeslam, who was arrested in Belgium after five months on the run, kept silent during the police investigation but started talking during the trial, explaining how he gave up plans to blow himself up. He also apologised to victims, however, his tearful appeal for forgiveness had little impact on the prosecutors, who believe that his explosive belt simply malfunctioned. Prosecutors also said that Abdeslam’s claim that he was recruited by a Jihadist cell only a few days before the attacks was “illogical”.
Excerpts of the 2015 Killings
The 2015 killing spree which took place at a Paris music hall, cafes and the national stadium led to intensified French military action against extremists abroad and a security crackdown at home. The three prosecutors summarized nine months of testimony since the start of the marathon trial, held in a specially built secure complex inside Paris’ original 13th Century Justice Palace, with 12 overflow rooms to accommodate victims, lawyers and journalists.
Fourteen of the defendants have been present in court. All but one of the six absent men are presumed, but not confirmed as dead. Most of the suspects are being accused of helping create false identities, transporting the attackers back to Europe from Syria, and providing them with money, phones, explosives and weapons. Salah Abdeslam, who waited until April 2015 to break his silence, told the court that he was a last-minute add-on to the group that committed the attacks.
He said he “renounced” his mission to explode himself in a bar in Northern Paris. But Prosecutor Nicolas Le Bris, rejected the claim, telling the court that “He’s trying to put you to sleep”.
Abdeslam’s brother, who was among those who attacked Paris cafes, was killed on the spot. The trial will continue with defence pleas, while final words from the defendants are set for June 27, 2022, with a verdict expected on June 29, 2022.
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