Survivors of the November 2015 Paris attacks testify from on Tuesday at a historic trial, facing the ordeal of reliving that night of horror in the presence of over a dozen accused in court. One by one over the coming weeks, 300 survivors as well as family members of the victims of the murderous assault on November 13 are to take the stand.
The suicide bombing and gun assaults by three teams of jihadists on bars, restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and the national stadium – planned in Syria and later claimed by the Islamic State group – left 130 people dead and around 350 physically injured.
Some of the survivors told AFP that, as daunting as it was to tell their stories in a packed courtroom with the accused present, they felt it had to be done. I want to go through with this, it’s part of my reconstruction effort,” said 31-year old Marko, who sat on a terrace at the Belle Equipe cafe in central Paris with a group of friends when the gunmen attacked, killing one of them, Victor.
I want to face these people, I want them to see who their victims were – What happened to us, and to those who are gone,” Marko told AFP ahead of Tuesday’s proceedings which were scheduled to begin at 12:30pm (1030 GMT).
That night, 39 people were killed on terraces of bars and cafes. A total of 14 defendants are being tried in person at the biggest trial in modern French history, and six others will be judged in their absence, with most of them facing life sentences.
Among them is the only surviving gunman, Salah Abdeslam, a dual French-Moroccan national, who has sought to upstage the first weeks of proceedings with repeated unscheduled interventions that have already angered survivors.
The presiding judge has scheduled 15 witness statements by survivors per day, starting with those who were at the Stade de France stadium, followed by those in cafes and finally the survivors of the Bataclan concert hall massacre. I started to shout abuse at him,” he said. “An injured friend talked me down, but I still remained standing until the end, staring at him,” he said. The trial is scheduled to continue until May 2022.
Source: eNCA
In other news – Durban Gen’s Dr Zulu and Dr Zondo ‘Fanele Ntuli’ dating in real life? – Photos
No doubt the two have been making all sorts of headlines with their unmatched talent on etv’s drama series Durban Gen.
However, in the mix of things, Mzansi seems to have finally connected the dots and fixed that puzzled. Yes, Dr Zulu played by Mike Malwandla is rumoured to be in an affair with Dr Zondo played by Fanele Ntuli. Learn more
