Trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015: 6 years later, no one has forgotten
The trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015, known as "V13" for Friday November 13, begins this Wednesday September 8, 2021 in Paris.
Lasting 8 months, the largest criminal hearing organized in France, will be made up of 1,800 civil parties, 300 lawyers and magistrates, with 20 accused including 13 from the jihadist cell.
Six years after this night of horror, which left 130 dead and no fewer than 350 injured, the wound has still not healed. These attacks are anchored for life in the collective memory.
We all identified with the victims. After all, it could have been us, on a café terrace, at a concert or at the football stadium.
I was living in Paris at the time. And although I was not personally impacted by the loss of a loved one or by my presence at the scene of the attacks, that night, interminable, long, painful, I will remember it for the rest of my life.
Frozen in front of my TV until the early hours of the morning, following the news on repeat and trying to find out if all my friends were safe and sound (one of my close friends was actually going to have a drink with her best friend at one of the bars targeted by the terrorists).
And this calm in the streets... With in the background, the police sirens, firefighters in the distance... Surreal...
This dead calm was present all weekend. As if everyone had deserted the capital, while we were all barricaded at home, trying to digest a little the events of the day before.
The return to work on Monday morning was special. Especially that subway ride, with those faces so downcast for some, so suspicious, staring at each other like a dog in a china shop for others.
The atmosphere was heavy. No one spoke… I had never experienced such calm on public transport before, in 5 years in Paris…
The danger was still palpable with the escape of the last terrorist present at the Bataclan, Salah Abdeslam and his accomplices. One of them, moreover, was literally hidden in an embankment, in Aubervilliers, very close to where I was working at the time.
We were advised not to walk alone to the metro after work in the evening.
A climate of fear was still there. And at the same time, everyone was still stunned by the events of the weekend.
You are aware of things but you have difficulty accepting that it really happened, it seems so inconceivable.
I had spent my weekend alone, at home, like a zombie. And I must say that I have never felt my loneliness as much as at that moment.
So the return to work, although a little feverish, I was waiting for it.
Need to see my colleagues, to be able to discuss it, in short need to be surrounded.
And yet, I lived this hell like many, in front of the TV. But I had the impression of having a train run over me
Since then, there has not been a single report or excerpt from this nightmare that does not make my throat tighten.
I dare not imagine the survivors of this barbarity or the families of the victims, still today marked by serious physical or psychological after-effects, unable to resume their lives. normal " (if normality is possible after all that).
This trial will not bring back our dead, of course. But the hope of hearing the possible (because it is not a given) testimonies of these terrorists in the dock, and seeing them convicted, could help close the loop for the victims and the grieving families.
The verdict is expected on May 22, 2022.
