The trial of Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect and the only survivor of the Islamic State (IS) cell that carried out the November 2015 Paris attacks, may be delayed because of COVID-19.
As COVID-19 cases swell in the country, the French authorities are tightening their health measures, and the largest trial in France’s modern history will be no exception.
In the event that Abdeslam’s PCR test is positive, the Paris November 13 trial will have to be delayed, the president of the Paris special assize court, Jean-Louis Peries, announced on Tuesday at the opening of the hearing.
“I have just been informed that the laboratory has still not transmitted to Fleury [where Salah Abdeslam is detained] the results of the PCR test of Salah Abdeslam,” Peries indicated, adding that if everything proceeds as planned, the trial will resume on Thursday.
In a highly anticipated trial scheduled for January 6, 20 defendants are expected to stand trial, including French-Moroccan Abdeslam, the sole survivor of the terrorist cell that killed 130 people and injured hundreds in attacks on France’s national stadium, the Bataclan concert hall, as well as several Parisian restaurants and cafes on November 13, 2015.
It took four and a half years for the investigation of the attacks to be completed, and the file has more than 500 volumes.
An entire courtroom was built in the Palais de Justice courthouse to accommodate all the people attending the hearings, including over 300 lawyers.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hUj1–fuE4BSWpeJDy_EisqmzoGeZpd6cz790ICr8o0/edit
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