Paris terror trial opens for 20 accused in 2015 attacks

By LORI HINNANT and NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY

PARIS (AP) — The proceedings of 20 men accused successful a bid of coordinated attacks connected Paris successful 2015 that dispersed fearfulness crossed Europe and transformed France opened Wednesday successful a custom-built analyzable embedded wrong a 13th-century courthouse.

Nine Islamic State radical gunmen and termination bombers struck wrong minutes of 1 different astatine respective locations astir Paris connected Nov. 13, 2015, leaving 130 radical dormant and hundreds wounded. It was the deadliest unit to onslaught France since World War II and among the worst panic attacks to deed the West.

The worst carnage was astatine the Bataclan performance hall, wherever 3 men, dressed successful achromatic and equipped with battle rifles, gunned down scores of radical and grabbed a fistful of hostages. Others targeted the nationalist shot stadium, wherever the president was attending a game, arsenic good arsenic cafes filled with radical connected a mild autumn night.

The lone surviving attacker from that night, Salah Abdeslam, is the cardinal suspect — but helium has truthful acold refused to talk to investigators, denying them answers to galore of the remaining questions astir the attacks and the radical who planned them.

Abdeslam, whose member was among the termination bombers, appeared intent connected provoking those assembled to spot justness done Wednesday. Dressed each successful black, disguise included, helium declared his assemblage to beryllium “fighter for Islamic State” and aboriginal burst retired with complaints astir attraction successful prison.

Abdeslam, who fled the nighttime of the attacks aft ditching his car and a malfunctioning termination vest, is the lone suspect charged with murder. The different defendants contiguous look lesser coercion charges.

The presiding judge, Jean-Louis Peries, acknowledged the bonzer quality of the attacks — which changed information successful Europe and France’s governmental scenery — and the proceedings to come. France lone emerged from the authorities of exigency declared successful the aftermath of the attacks successful 2017, aft incorporating galore of the harshest measures into law.

“The events that we are astir to determine are inscribed successful their historical strength arsenic among the planetary and nationalist events of this century,” helium said.

Dominique Kielemoes, whose lad bled to decease astatine 1 of the cafes, said proceeding victims’ testimonies astatine the proceedings volition beryllium important to some their ain healing and that of the nation.

“The assassins, these terrorists, thought they were firing into the crowd, into a wide of people. But it wasn’t a wide — these were individuals who had a life, who loved, had hopes and expectations, and that we request to speech astir astatine the trial. It’s important,” she said.

Of the 20 men charged, six volition beryllium tried successful absentia. Abdeslam volition beryllium questioned aggregate times — but it remains to beryllium seen if helium volition interruption his soundlessness beyond the benignant of allegiance helium offered Wednesday to Islamic State groups.

“We were expecting it, and we were prepared for it and successful fact, we’re not expecting thing from him,” Kielemoes said aft Abdeslam archetypal appeared.

The aforesaid IS web that deed Paris went connected to onslaught Brussels months later, sidesplitting different 32 people.

Authorities person gone to bonzer lengths to guarantee information astatine the trial, gathering an wholly caller courtroom wrong the storied 13th-century Palais de Justice successful Paris, wherever Marie Antoinette and Emile Zola faced trial, among others.

Survivors of the attacks arsenic good arsenic those who mourn their dormant connected Wednesday packed the complex’s rooms, which were designed to clasp 1,800 plaintiffs and implicit 300 lawyers.

For the archetypal time, victims tin besides person a unafraid audio nexus to perceive from location if they privation with a 30-minute delay.

The proceedings is scheduled to past 9 months. The period of September volition beryllium dedicated to laying retired the constabulary and forensic evidence. October volition beryllium fixed implicit to victims’ testimony. From November to December, officials including then-French President François Hollande — who was astatine the Stade de France connected the nighttime of the assaults — volition testify, arsenic volition relatives of the attackers.

In the aftermath of the attacks, France changed: Authorities instantly declared a authorities of exigency and present equipped officers perpetually patrol nationalist spaces. The assaults sparked soul-searching among the French and Europeans much broadly since astir of the perpetrators were calved and raised successful France oregon Belgium. And they transformed everlastingly the lives of each those who suffered losses oregon bore witnesser to the violence.

“Our quality to beryllium carefree is gone,” Kielemoes said. “The tendency to spell out, question — each of that’s gone. Even if we inactive bash a fig of things, our appetite for beingness has disappeared.”

For Jean-Luc Wertenschlag, who lives supra the cafe wherever his lad died and who rushed downstairs soon aft the archetypal gunshots to effort to prevention lives, it has adjacent changed the mode helium moves astir the metropolis wherever helium was calved and raised. He ne'er leaves location without the archetypal assistance cogwheel helium lacked that night, erstwhile helium ripped disconnected his garment to stanch the bleeding of a victim.

“What we did that evening with different people, to supply assistance to the radical wounded during the attack, was a mode to basal against what these monsters had tried to bash to us,” helium said.

Among those scheduled to attest is Hollande, who successful summation to being contiguous astatine 1 of the scenes of onslaught gave the last bid to constabulary peculiar forces to tempest the Bataclan.

Hollande said Wednesday helium would talk “not for the involvement of French politics, but for the victims of the attacks.” He said helium keenly felt the value of work that nighttime and for the days and weeks aft it.

“When the cameras are turned off, you spell backmost to the solitude of the Elysée (presidential palace),” Hollande told told France-Info. “You inquire what tin I do? … Is what conscionable happened going to alteration society?”

Wednesday’s proceeding paused concisely aft 1 of the defendants appeared to person a aesculapian issue. When it resumed, Abdeslam burst retired successful fury.

“We should beryllium treated similar quality beings. We’re not dogs,” helium said, earlier being ordered to beryllium silent.

None of the proceedings volition beryllium televised oregon rebroadcast to the public, but they volition beryllium recorded for archival purposes. Video signaling has lone been allowed for a fistful of cases successful France considered to beryllium of humanities value, including past year’s proceedings for the 2015 attacks against the Charlie Hebdo paper successful Paris and a kosher supermarket.

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Associated Press journalists Angela Charlton, Alex Turnbull and Catherine Gaschka contributed to this report.