PARIS -- French prosecutors laid out Friday their sentencing demands for the historic Paris trial, which saw 20 French men accused of playing critical roles in France’s worst peacetime attack, Islamic State massacres in 2015 that claimed 130 lives. Prosecutors demanded a life sentence for Salah Abdeslam (the only survivor of the night's attacks on jihadis),
Three prosecutors summarized nine month of testimony from the beginning of the marathon trial last Sept. It was held in a specially constructed secure complex within Paris' original 13th Century Justice Palace with 12 overflow rooms for victims, lawyers, and journalists.
Friday night's massacre at Paris' national stadium, cafes, and music hall on November 13, 2015 led to increased French military action against extremists overseas and an increase in security measures at home.
Fourteen of the accused were present at court. The six men who were absent are all presumed to have died in Syria or Iraq, except one. The majority of the suspects are accused in creating false identities, transporting attackers from Syria to Europe, and providing money, phones, explosives, or weapons.
French prosecutors requested 10 life sentences in total. Five for those presumed dead and five for others who were present at court.
Abdeslam was a key suspect in the trial and waited until April before he broke his silence.
Nicolas Braconnay, a prosecutor, said to the court that not everyone is a Jihadi. However, all those you are judging have accepted to be part of a terrorist group by either cowardliness, conviction, or greed.
Braconnay claimed that France's claims of being targeted for its participation in the multinational coalition against Islamic State are "an alibi." He also stated, "All those who use it are required to add a religious argument. 'You are not believers."
Abdeslam, who was the only member of Paris attackers to not have joined the self-proclaimed IS caliphate, said that he was an add-on to the group at the last minute. He claimed that he had "renounced" the mission to blow himself up in a Paris bar. Nicolas Le Bris, the prosecutor, denied the claim and said that he was trying to make you sleep.
Abdeslam's brother was one of the attackers on Paris cafes. He was shot and killed right there.
Mohammed Abrini was another key defendant. He accompanied the group to Paris on the night of the attacks, then returned to Belgium. After the terror attacks on the Brussels subway and airport in March 2016, he was taken into custody. He is also wanted by the prosecution to be sentenced to life.
Prosecutor Le Bris stated that "Salah Abdeslam, Mohammed Abrini made it clear they were engaged in jihadi activities."
Abdeslam's brother and his brother ran a cafe in Brussels that sold alcohol and drugs, but also provided jihadi propaganda.
The cafe became the headquarters for a fan club of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the man who was portrayed as the mastermind behind the attacks. While hiding out in Paris, he was shot and killed by French police.
Defense pleas will continue to be heard during the trial. Final words of the defendants will be delivered on June 27. A verdict is expected on June 29.
