The November 13 trial continues before the Special Assize Court of Paris. On the 102nd day of the hearing, Salah Abdeslam, the only member of the terrorist commandos still alive, was called upon to respond to the events of November 13. Salah Abdeslam, who after talking a lot during his last interrogations, suddenly walled up in silence, sometimes distributing a few snippets of answers. Transcript, Nathanael Vittrant
” Today, I want to use my right to silence. As the oft-strewn courtroom is once again packed, the disappointment is audible. The president insists and warns the accused: Faced with non-answers, we will be tempted to find some that will be unfavorable to you…” Faced with the silence of the accused, he ends up raising the many questions that arise about the involvement of Salah Abdeslam: his role in the rental of the vehicles which transported the terrorists and the rooms which accommodated them the day before the attacks, his crossing of Paris from north to south on the evening of November 13 after dropping off the 3 terrorists from the Stade de France, the abandonment of the explosive vest in Montrouge. Sitting in the box, Salah Abdeslam listens, impassive.
“There is not an ounce of courage in you”
The Advocate General, Nicolas le Bris, gets carried away: ” I have a thought today for the victims, Salah Abdeslam likes to announce that he will speak to then take pleasure in remaining silent and seeing the disappointment of the victims. We have confirmed with you that cowardice is really the hallmark of terrorists, there is not an ounce of courage in you. The civil party lawyers will not have more success, until Me Josserand-Schmidt takes the floor. “ Mr Abdeslam, last week you promised me an answer “, she begins.
Gradually a dialogue begins, Salah Abdeslam begins by responding by raising his head. With delicacy, she speaks to him of his companion at whose home he cried, a few days before the attacks. ” When you leave her, you know you’re going to hurt her. At that moment, did you take the measure of the suffering that you are going to cause in a few days, to these tens, these hundreds of lovers who will be separated by death? Salah Abdeslam then emerges from his lethargy: I will honor my promise “, he begins.
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” I was ashamed ”
If he poured a few tears That day, it was because he had to go to Syria, he says today, echoing the explanation given the day before by his childhood friend Mohamed Abrini. ” Are we to understand that on Tuesday, November 10, you are not yet in the process of wearing an explosive belt? “, rebounds the lawyer. “ That’s it. Salah Abdeslam therefore asserts that it was on the evening of November 12, when he found Abdelhamid Abaaoud, another childhood friend and coordinator of the attacks, that he found himself embarked in spite of himself in the commandos of November 13. ” I gave up trying to release my belt, not out of cowardice, not out of fear. So why did you say later that the vest hadn’t worked? ” I was ashamed he says.
A faulty jacket
An explanation undermined a few hours later by the demining expert who analyzed Salah Abdeslam’s abandoned vest. It shows that the igniter, the “electric match” responsible for triggering the charge, was defective. “ Would it have been possible to trigger by another method, for example with a lighter asks the president. “ It’s an experiment I didn’t do. “replies the expert. Salah Abdeslam’s lawyer, Me Olivia Ronen, insists: ” Can you confirm that no traces of burning were found on this vest? » « Absolutely “replies the expert. “ But when you’re wearing it, the only way to know it’s malfunctioning is to press the button? “Asks a civil party lawyer. The specialist once again answers in the affirmative. “ I have no further questions. »