Six years after the deadly November 13 attacks, France pays tribute today to the 130 people who were killed in a series of terrorist strikes around Paris in 2015, as the ongoing trial of the alleged perpetrators continues to shape the collective memory of the attacks.
On November 13, 2015, extremists carried out coordinated attacks on the Bataclan concert hall, Paris cafes and the Stade de France.
Alongside the 130 victims, 350 people were wounded in the deadliest peacetime attack on France.
Prime Minister Jean Castex and four other members of the government will attend sites affected by the attacks, including the Stade de France and the Bataclan, as they will be joined by the mayor of Saint-Denis Mathieu Hanotin and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo.
A minute of silence will also be held before the French national football team’s match against Kazakhstan in the Parc des Princes in Paris this evening.
In 2020, the Covid pandemic prevented survivors and victims’ families from gathering with a minimal ceremony taking place during lockdown.
This year’s tributes carry a greater sense of pertinence, as the trial of 20 alleged masterminds of the attacks got underway in September, reviving the memory of the deadliest terrorist attack ever committed on French soil.
The biggest trial in France’s modern history has been suspended uniquely for today in honor of the commemorations.
Of the 20 defendants in the trial, 14 are attending in person, including the French-Moroccan Salah Abdeslam, thought to be the only surviving member of the group directly involved in the attacks. The others are suspected accomplices or sponsors of the attacks.
The investigation of the trial of the attacks lasted four and a half years and the file has more than 500 volumes.
Francois Hollande, who was French president at the time of the attacks, testified at the trial on Wednesday (November 10), as he told the court that the terrorists wanted to “punish France for what it is”.
“Why didn’t they attack the authorities? They didn’t hit barracks, police stations, they hit terraces, a concert, a stadium,” he added that security services had done all they could to prevent the attacks.
A courtroom was specially built in the Palais de Justice courthouse to accommodate all the people attending the hearings, including over 300 lawyers.
A dozen other rooms have been equipped with video screens to allow all those involved to follow the proceedings live, for a total capacity of 2,000 people at the court of appeal, according to Le Monde.
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