PARIS (AP) – The trial against the November 2015 Paris attacks takes place in the Palais de Justice, a national monument to the 13th-century walls of King Louis IX.
In the heart of Paris, on the same island as Notre Dame Cathedral and the city’s police headquarters, it has been a center of power for France for generations and was built on ancient Roman ruins. It also houses Louis’s famous Gothic Sainte-Chapelle.
The palace was enlarged over the centuries by the French kings, many of whom lived in the same wing that now houses the secure complex of rooms specially built for the nine-month terror trial. The wing has a statue of Louis IX, known as St. Louis, located under an oak tree administering justice.
According to historians Hélène Bellanger and Marc Renneville, in the late 13th century, King Philip the Good remodeled the palace to house courts.
The palace then housed the Revolutionary Court during the Reign of Terror and, in 1793, famously tried Marie-Antoinette and others before they were guillotined.
It has burned repeatedly, especially during the “bloody week” of 1871, when the government of Versailles repressed the Communists and a fire ravaged most of the courthouses.
French novelist Emile Zola also faced trial in the building during the Dreyfus affair in the late 19th century. And the walls still carry scars from bullets fired in street battles to retake Paris from the Germans in World War II.
Paris moved most of the court proceedings to a more modern building in the north of the city in 2018. In January 2020, the French government decided to use the cave’s side room structure for the exceptional needs of the trial. Paris attacks of November 2015, the largest trial in the history of France.
Working with the cultural authorities and the architect in charge of the protected national monuments, construction was completed during the summer.
Twenty men are charged with the 2015 attacks by the Islamic State group in Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. The new chamber, which has pale wood and huge screens, can accommodate 550 people, all accused and several cameras. The overflow rooms broadcast the procedures live.
Among the Earthlings are about 1,800 victims, including survivors and families whose loved ones died that night. A total of 330 lawyers represent them and the defendants.