The trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015 is coming to an end. The verdict is expected for June 29, in less than a month. This week, the floor is still with the lawyers of the civil parties. And some, in their pleadings, rely on drawings made by survivors of the attacks, in particular, those of Catherine Bertrand.
Catherine Bertrand published a comic strip Chronicle of a survivor in 2018. She has been exhibiting her works on the internet and in a café for two months.
I think I underestimated the violence of the broadcast of yesterday’s audios where it discusses tranquilou bilou dosage and explosive recipe of TATP.
Today is… legal hangover pic.twitter.com/bXC5joh4E7— Catherine Bertrand o/ ?? (@cathbertrand5) April 7, 2022
But seeing her drawings projected to the audience is a reward for this Bataclan survivor. ” I am coming back from far. After the Bataclan, my drawings looked like nothing at allexplains Catherine Bertrand to Moissonniere Marine following the trial for RFI. And so there, I actually see the evolution with my drawings which tremble with fear and anguish, with my colored drawings projected in the courtroom. »
” I treat myself by drawing »
Catherine Bertrand was a photo archivist before the attacks. Drawing, which was just a hobby, became his lifeline and his profession. ” After the attacks, I was unable to speak. I couldn’t make correct sentences, I went through the drawing. For me, it’s a kind of therapy. I take care of myself by drawing. It’s sometimes when I draw that I realize what’s going on in my head. »
Solicited by the lawyers, the 41-year-old young woman, who did not want to testify at the bar, expresses herself with her drawings. And it also carries the voice of other victims: The trauma, the bereavement, the loss of a child, becoming an orphan… All of this cannot be seen physically. For me, my job is really to show the invisible. »
Catherine Bertrand hopes to touch the accused with her drawings. Until the end of the pleadings of the civil parties, she will sit closer to them to watch their reactions.
►Also read: At the November 13 trial, lovers and orphans of terrorism