Over the course of an extraordinary nine-month trial, the lone survivor of the nine-person Islamic State extremist team that attacked Paris in 2015 proclaimed his radicalism, wept, apologised to victims and pleaded with judges to forgive his “mistakes”.
At long last, the fate of Salah Abdeslam has been decided: he has been found guilty of terrorism and murder charges and given France’s toughest sentence – life in prison without parole.
The other defendants were largely accused of helping with logistics or transportation. At least one was accused of a direct role in the deadly March 2016 attacks in Brussels, which also was claimed by IS. Eighteen were handed various terrorism-related convictions, and one was convicted on a lesser fraud charge.
Presiding judge Jean-Louis Peries said at the trial’s outset that it belonged to “international and national events of this century”. France emerged from the state of emergency in 2017, after incorporating many of the harshest measures into law. Salah Abdeslam, left, walking through a market in Brussels in 2016, was one of 20 people on trial for the 2015 Paris attacks.In closing arguments, prosecutors stressed that all 20 defendants, who had fanned out around the French capital, armed with semi-automatic rifles and explosives-packed vests to mount parallel attacks, were members of the IS extremist group responsible for the massacres.
This courtroom sketch shows key defendant Salah Abdeslam, at left and in black at centre, with court president Jean-Louis Peries, right, in the special courtroom built for the 2015 attacks trial.The Islamic State, “this pseudo-state, declared war with the weapons of war,” Hollande said. The Paris attackers did not terrorise, shoot, kill, maim and traumatise civilians because of religion, he said, adding it was “fanaticism and barbarism”.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Salah Abdeslam found guilty of murder in Paris terror attacks trialOver an extraordinary nine-month trial, the lone survivor of the IS team that attacked Paris proclaimed his radicalism, wept, apologised and pleaded for forgiveness.
Read more »
Salah Abdeslam found guilty of murder in Paris terror attacks trialOver an extraordinary nine-month trial, the lone survivor of the IS team that attacked Paris proclaimed his radicalism, wept, apologised and pleaded for forgiveness.
Read more »
Paris attacks trial to conclude after 10 months of harrowing testimonyTrial hailed as crucial step for France in facing its collective trauma over 2015 terror attacks
Read more »
Lone surviving Paris terrorist gets life in prison without paroleBREAKING: 19 people have been found guilty over the Bataclan Theatre terror attack that killed 130 people in 2015. CGreenbank9 9News READ MORE:
Read more »
Lone surviving Paris terrorist gets life in prison without paroleThe only surviving attacker from the 2015 terrorist massacre at the Bataclan theatre in Paris has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. 9News
Read more »