• Mon. Apr 29th, 2024

France Opens Historic Trial Over 2015 Paris Attacks

A historic trial has started in France over the 2015 Paris attacks which left 130 people dead.

The shooting and bombing assault by Islamist State (IS) group extremists was the worst post-World War Two atrocity in France.

The only surviving attacker, Salah Abdeslam, is in court with 13 other defendants at a purpose-built facility in Paris.

The trial is being described as the biggest in France’s modern history.

Over the next nine months, there will be over 140 days of hearings involving about 330 lawyers and 1,800 survivors and relatives of victims. About 300 witnesses will be heard, including François Hollande, French president at the time of the attacks.

Ahead of the trial, Mr Hollande told French media that this was an important moment for the victims of the attacks, which he described as an “act of war” at the time.

IS admitted carrying out the attacks on the Bataclan concert hall, a major stadium, restaurants and bars on 13 November 2015.

The suspects arrived at court in police vehicles under heavy security on Wednesday morning. They were seated together in the defendants’ box, wearing face masks, before the trial opened.