Trial of 20 men accused in 2015 Paris attacks to begin

PARIS – In a unafraid analyzable embedded wrong a 13th-century courthouse, France connected Wednesday volition statesman the proceedings of 20 men accused successful the Islamic State group’s 2015 attacks connected Paris that near 130 radical dormant and hundreds injured.

Nine gunmen and termination bombers struck wrong minutes of each different astatine France's nationalist shot stadium, the Bataclan performance hallway and Paris restaurants and cafes connected Nov. 13, 2015. Survivors of the attacks arsenic good arsenic those who mourn their dormant are expected to battalion the rooms, which were designed to clasp 1,800 plaintiffs and 350 lawyers.

The lone subsister of the extremist compartment from that night, Salah Abdeslam, is the cardinal suspect among those being tried for the deadliest onslaught successful France since World War II. He is the lone 1 charged with murder. The aforesaid IS web went connected to onslaught Brussels months later, sidesplitting different 32 people.

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Dominique Kielemoes, whose lad bled to decease astatine 1 of the cafes that night, said the period dedicated to 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,

Twenty men are charged, but six of them volition beryllium tried successful absentia. Abdeslam, who abandoned his rental car successful bluish Paris and discarded a malfunctioning termination vest earlier fleeing location to Brussels, has refused to talk with investigators. But helium holds the answers to galore of the remaining questions astir the attack and the radical who planned it, some successful Europe and abroad.

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The modern courtroom was constructed wrong the storied 13th-century Palais de Justice successful Paris, wherever Marie Antoinette and Emile Zola faced trial, among others.

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 police and forensic evidence. October volition beryllium fixed implicit to victims’ testimony. From November to December, officials including erstwhile French President François Hollande volition testify, arsenic volition relatives of the attackers.

Abdeslam volition beryllium questioned aggregate times. He has truthful acold refused to speech to investigators.

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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