Emotions raw before Paris trial for Islamic State carnage

PARIS – For the euphony lover, it was astir 3 hours astatine gunpoint, wondering if helium would go yet different assemblage connected the level of the Bataclan performance hallway successful Paris.

For the grieving mother, the nighttime of carnage robbed her of her lad and tarnished her presumption of the vibrant vicinity they some loved.

For the French president, a solemnisation of the nationalist shot squad transformed into sleepless days of facing down a shocking extremist attack.

The survivors of the Islamic State radical attack connected Paris the nighttime of Nov. 13, 2015, and those who mourn the 130 dead, are bracing for the long-awaited proceedings and hoping for justice.

It begins Wednesday successful a unafraid modern analyzable embedded successful Paris’ archetypal 13th-century courthouse. The main enclosure and 12 overflow rooms tin accommodate 1,800 victims, 330 lawyers and 141 accredited journalists for the nine-month trial.

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Twenty men are going connected trial, six of them successful absentia. All but 1 of the absent men are presumed dormant successful Syria oregon Iraq. Most are accused of helping make mendacious identities, transporting the attackers backmost to Europe from Syria, providing them with wealth and phones, and supplying explosives and weapons.

The attacks sent France into a authorities of emergency. For Stéphane Toutlouyan and the others held hostage wrong the Bataclan, the translation was intensely personal.

"The absorption to this, afterwards, was to effort and instrumentality backmost power of our lives and bash the things that possibly we’d not done before, due to the fact that we had nary clip to lose,” helium told The Associated Press.

On that fateful Nov. 13, a compartment of 9 IS supporters equipped with automatic rifles and explosive vests struck crossed French capital. Nearly each were from France oregon Belgium, arsenic were the cell’s 10th subordinate and sole survivor, Salah Abdeslam.

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Abdeslam, who ditched his car and malfunctioning explosives vest, is the lone suspect facing execution charges successful the trial. Another cardinal defendant, Mohammed Abrini, reappeared months aboriginal successful footage of the IS onslaught connected the Brussels airdrome and subway.

Many of the dormant attackers, on with Abdesalam and Abrini, were puerility friends from the Brussels vicinity of Molenbeek. Some joined the Islamic State radical successful Iraq and Syria, including the Paris onslaught ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Driving 3 rental cars, they took their “convoy of death” to the road linking Brussels and Paris connected Nov. 12, 2015, and scattered successful reserved edifice rooms.

The adjacent day, the German and French shot teams faced disconnected astatine the Stade de France, the country's nationalist stadium conscionable extracurricular Paris.

It was a balmy Friday evening, and the city’s bars and restaurants were packed. Victor Muñoz, a 25-year-old autochthonal of Paris’ 11th arrondissement, was with aged friends. At the adjacent Bataclan performance venue, the American set Eagles of Death Metal were playing to a afloat house, including Toutlouyan, an enthusiastic instrumentality of unrecorded rock.

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The dependable of the archetypal termination bombing astatine 9:16 p.m. hardly carried implicit the sound of the stadium's crowd. The 2nd came 4 minutes later. French President François Hollande, astatine the shot crippled with Germany's overseas minister, was told astir the dormant bombers outside.

“I stayed successful my spot for a fewer minutes to debar a panic effect. People spot maine from their seats, and they can’t marque the nexus betwixt the detonations and my departure, oregon there's the hazard of stampede,” Hollande told Le Parisien paper this month.

By then, a squad of gunmen including Abdeslam’s member and Abaaoud had opened occurrence astatine La Bonne Bière and different bars and restaurants successful the neighborhood. Muñoz was among the dead.

That bloodshed extracurricular came to an extremity astatine 9:41 p.m. astatine the Café Voltaire erstwhile Brahim Abdeslam detonated his explosives. The different 2 attackers fled.

Worse was to follow. At 9:47 p.m., 3 much gunmen burst into the Bataclan, firing indiscriminately. Ninety radical died wrong minutes. The gunmen singled retired a twelve people, including Toutlouyan. To this day, helium doesn't cognize wherefore they were spared.

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“We stood down a model for 2½ hours, watching what was going on, each the portion wandering whether they would sprout america successful 5 minutes, successful 2 hours oregon successful 2 days. At that moment, and for 2½ hours, we weren’t the masters of our ain lives,” helium said.

Their instructions: To study connected the locations of police, past to enactment arsenic go-betweens during sporadic negotiations. Shortly aft midnight, Hollande gave the bid to determination in. Two of the gunmen blew themselves up; the 3rd was changeable by police.

Now there are questions that lone the men connected the basal tin answer.

Abdeslam’s determination to wantonness the Renault Clio successful bluish Paris and telephone Brussels for assistance is simply a puzzle. Two friends drove done the nighttime to fetch him, and connected the roadworthy backmost to Belgium helium slipped done 3 constabulary checkpoints.

Abdeslam was yet arrested successful his Brussels vicinity of Molenbeek successful March, days earlier the IS web attacked the Brussels airdrome and subway, sidesplitting 32 much people.

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Abrini’s relation is murky arsenic well. He spent a nighttime with the IS attackers, but near Paris connected Nov. 12, hiring a operator to instrumentality him 3 hours backmost to Brussels due to the fact that helium had missed the past train. He popped up again successful Brussels months later, accompanying 2 termination bombers to the airdrome but walked distant arsenic the bloodshed started.

Two of the defendants are charged with plotting a simultaneous onslaught astatine Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport successful 2015 and went to the airdrome connected Nov. 13, but returned to Brussels for chartless reasons. Abdeslam’s car idled for a portion that time astatine Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport arsenic well.

The time aft the murderous evening, a Frenchman successful Syria claimed work for the attacks successful the sanction of IS.

Abaaoud and different attacker died days aboriginal successful a constabulary raid.

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Abdeslam refused to speak to investigators or his lawyers successful Belgium. But helium did petition a young lawyer successful France known for her eloquence, Olivia Ronen. She volition beryllium his superior lawyer.

For galore victims, speaking retired is the point. A period is dedicated to their testimonies.

“It’s truly the information that is important for them,” said Jeanne Sulzer, a lawyer representing 10 victims. "What they’re seeking is the constitution of truth, justice.”

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Alex Turnbull contributed to this report.

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