After months of trial, French justice has sought a life sentence for Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the group accused of carrying out the attacks that occurred on Friday (10) in and around Paris on 13 November 2015. This is the most severe punishment in the penal code in France.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor (Pnat) claimed that this sentence, which is rarely practiced in France, was deserved because the defendants had not shown any remorse for their actions since the proceedings began in September 2021.
Twenty people are on trial, almost all of them accused of complicity and indirect involvement in the organization of the attacks.
But Salah Abdeslam, 32, is the only surviving member of the jihadist command that left 130 dead and hundreds wounded in Paris and Saint-Denis. He should have been directly involved in the attacks, but shortly before the bombing he dropped his explosive belt and fled after dropping some of the terrorists at the Stade de France on the outskirts of the capital.
After months of silence, Abdeslam continued to claim that he was the target of slander and was not directly responsible for the deaths of any of the victims. But he did not regret his involvement in the terrorist project and did not deny his closeness and admiration for the Islamic State group.
In a statement, the defendant shocked the victims’ families, saying, “I support the ISIS group and I love them because they exist in daily life, they fight and they sacrifice themselves.”
During his three-day testimony in April, the defendant said he would blow himself up in a bar in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, but “stopped” the action when he arrived on the scene and saw many teenagers. people who look like him and have fun. Olivia Ronen, one of her lawyers, asked, “Do you regret not daring to go all the way?” she asked. “I don’t regret it, I didn’t kill those people and I didn’t die,” she replied.
“Forgive me”
He even asked for forgiveness on the third day of his interrogation. “I want to offer my condolences and apologies to all the victims,” said French with tears on his face. “I know the hate continues, but today I want you to hate me in moderation. I beg you to forgive me,” he insisted at the time.
The court is not obliged to accept the penalty request submitted by the Prosecutor’s Office. However, if a life sentence is given, Abdeslam will not be able to seek any relief until he has served 30 years in prison. A final decision is expected on June 29.
In France in 1994, a life sentence was introduced after a minor was raped by a man convicted of sexual crimes. Since then, this punishment has been applied in the country four times.
source: Noticias
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