The only defendant, Salah Abdeslam, was given a life sentence. The case, which was heard at the Paris High Criminal Court regarding the Islamist attacks that killed 130 people in 2015 in Paris, the capital of France, was concluded yesterday evening. The court ruled that Salah Abdeslam, the sole survivor from the group that carried out the attacks, should be sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment.
It will not be possible to reduce the sentence of 32-year-old Moroccan-French citizen Abdeslam, who received the heaviest sentence under French law, before 30 years. Four people had previously been sentenced to this sentence in France.
In the deadliest simultaneous attacks that shocked France on 13 November 2015, six restaurants and bars, a stadium and a concert hall were targeted, 130 people were killed and 350 injured. ISIS (DEAS) claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the ISIS cell that carried out the attacks, was also convicted of “terrorism” and murder in the trial in France. While Judge Louis Peries was reading the verdict for an hour, it was observed that Abdeslam did not show any reaction.
A panel of five judges passed verdicts for Abdeslam and the 19 other people on trial with him.
The other 19 defendants were sentenced to prison sentences ranging from two years to life for crimes such as providing logistical support.
“Justice has been served”
French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said: “Justice has been served. It will not erase the horror of the events of 13 November 2015. But this is a strong step for all survivors, for the French people.” Borne stated that they stand with the victims of the attack and their families.
Except for Abdeslam, the other attackers either committed suicide or were shot by the police during the attacks.
The case is one of the largest in French history. It is reported that the findings obtained as a result of an international investigation that lasted six years exceeded one million pages.
130 people died
On Friday, November 13, 2015 in Paris, radical Islamist attackers organized a massacre at the Bataclan concert hall and killed 90 people in the hall. Simultaneously, armed attacks were carried out on various bars and restaurants in Paris. During the football match between Germany and France, three suicide bombers blew themselves up at the Stade de France stadium. A total of 130 people lost their lives and 350 were injured in the attacks undertaken by ISIS.
dpa, AFP/SSB, JD