“Salah Abdeslam remained faithful to his ideology until the end and unable to express the slightest remorse. He is far from having shown an abandonment of this voluntary servitude,” said Advocate General Camille Hennetier.
“Salah Abdeslam delivered a late version, after six years of silence, in total contradiction with many points. He chose his moment. He also chose his questions,” said the magistrate, denouncing “a fool’s game”.
Incompressible life imprisonment is extremely rare. This is the heaviest penalty provided for by the penal code. Since its introduction into French law in 1994, it has only been pronounced four times.
A sentence of life imprisonment, with a security period of twenty-two years, was also requested against his childhood friend Mohamed Abrini, a member like Salah Abdeslam of the “convoy of death” which transported the jihadists from Belgium to Paris the day before the attacks.
“No element allows us to foresee a favorable future development” by Mohamed Abrini, justified the magistrate.
In total, sentences ranging from five years’ imprisonment to irreducible life imprisonment were requested against the 20 defendants tried since September 8 before the special assize court for the attacks of November 13, 2015 in Paris and Saint- Dennis.
The prosecution requested life imprisonment with a period of thirty years of security against the “silent” of the trial, the Swede Osama Krayem and the Tunisian Sofien Ayari.
“We cannot interpret the silence of Osama Krayem and Sofien Ayari other than as a contempt for your court, especially on the part of two men who, in the box, are those who know the most about the cell”, has put forward the representative of the Pnat.
Life imprisonment with a security period of twenty-two years was also claimed against the “logistician” Mohamed Bakkali, “kingpin of the cell” according to the Pnat.
Life was also requested for the five sponsors and logisticians presumed to have died in Syria and tried in absentia, including Osama Atar, the alleged sponsor of the attacks.
Against Ahmed Dahmani, detained in Turkey and tried in his absence, the prosecution demanded a sentence of thirty years’ imprisonment with a two-thirds security period.
Against the “disgruntled operational staff”, as Camille Hennetier, the Algerian Adel Haddadi and the Pakistani Muhammad Usman nicknamed them, who, having left Syria, were unable to reach Europe in time to participate in the attacks, the Advocate General asked for a twenty-year prison sentence for each, with a two-thirds security period.
“They should have been part of the November 13 commandos. That was their mission, they had accepted it,” said Ms. Hennetier.
– No “awareness” –
Regarding the three defendants who appeared free at the hearing, the “little hands” of the terrorist cell, according to Ms. Hennetier, Abdellah Chouaa, Hamza Attou and Ali Oulkadi, the prosecution demanded sentences ranging from five to six years in prison with “deposit mandate” for MM. Chouaa and Attou.
“We must underline the irreproachable attitude of Messrs. Chouaa, Attou and Oulkadi who appeared at the hearing. Free, they showed up every day. And this was undoubtedly not without financial impact because of their residence in Belgium “, conceded the magistrate.
However, she added, “the maximum sentence provided for harboring a terrorist must be pronounced against Hamza Attou”. As for Ali Oulkadi, he is “the last to have seen Salah Abdeslam the day after the attacks and he said nothing”.
“Abdellah Chouaa, could not in any case ignore the state of mind of his friend Mohamed Abrini and his attitude is not the guarantee of a questioning and an awareness”, underlined the representative of the parquet.
The national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office also demanded that bans from the national territory, for ten years or definitive, be pronounced against all the defendants, with the exception of those who have French nationality, including Salah Abdeslam.
The special assize court, composed solely of professional magistrates, is not required to follow the requisitions of the prosecution.
The floor will be given to the defense from Monday and for two weeks. The verdict is expected on June 29.
