“We attacked France, the population, civilians, but it was nothing personal,” Salah Abdeslam, the only living member of the jihadist commanders who left 130 dead on November 13, 2015 in France, said on Wednesday.
At the start of a new court hearing in Paris that judges him alongside 19 other defendants, Abdeslam – who said he “did not want to put his finger on the wound” – explained that the attacks were in response to ” French bombings against Islamic State “(IS) in Syria.
The president of the court allowed this Wednesday that the 14 defendants present will make a first statement, “brief”, on the facts imputed to them. During his speeches, silence took over the room.
Salah Abdeslam, the main accused, took the floor last. “Good morning everyone, where to start?”, Said the Franco-Moroccan in a calm voice, which contrasts with his outbursts during the first days of hearings.
With the mask lowered to the level of his beard, he spoke for about five minutes to state that the “terrorists, jihadists, radicalized” appointed during the sightings were in fact “Muslims.” “This is authentic Islam,” he abounded.
Former French President “François Hollande said we are fighting France for its values, but it is a lie,” said Abdeslam, who pointed to the “French planes that bombed Islamic State, men, women and children.”
“Hollande is wise about the risks of attacking the Islamic State in Syria,” added the man, who turned 32 on Wednesday. “The bare minimum is to tell the truth, they often say I’m a provocateur, but it’s not true. I want to be honest,” he said.
In the room, some of the relatives of the victims and survivors of the attacks began to cry, others supported each other or remained prostrate, as if trying to fit their words, AFP found.
The trial, which began last Wednesday and will last until the end of May, does not provide for the interrogation of the accused until January 2022. After investigators this week, it will be the turn of the survivors from next.