Trial Against 20 people Involved in November 13 Attacks in Paris has Begun

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed 130 people

The trial against 20 people accused of their role in the attacks on November 13, 2015 in the French capital, for which Islamic State claimed responsibility and which took the lives of 130 people and injured hundreds, begins in Paris today, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA. The court hearings start in a huge specially built courtroom.

There were nine perpetrators of the attacks. Within hours, on the evening of November 13, they attacked the area of the national stadium in the suburb of Saint-Denis, the Bataclan concert hall, restaurants and cafes.

Only one of the perpetrators survived - Salah Abdeslam. He is among the defendants. These were the bloodiest terrorist acts in France since World War II. ISIS is also responsible for the attacks in Brussels, which took place a few months later and claimed the lives of 32 people.

Today, only 14 of the 20 accused will be present in the courtroom. Six have been tried in absentia, five of whom are presumed dead, and the sixth is unknown. Most defendants could face life sentences if convicted of complicity in the attacks. Only Salah Abdeslam is charged with murder. After the attacks in Paris, he abandoned his car with his explosive belt unused and fled to his hometown of Brussels, where he was captured.

The process is the largest in French history. After the complainants, there are nearly 1,800 victims of the attack, including the survivors and families of those killed. They and the accused were represented by 330 lawyers. All this necessitated the construction of a special modern courtroom. It was built in the 13th-century courthouse in Paris, where Marie-Antoinette and Emile Zola...