All twenty suspects are guilty of the most important offences, except for Farid Kharkach, according to the judges. He forged documents for the group of jihadists, but was not convicted of terrorist activities. Kharkach was sentenced to two years in prison, which he can serve at home.
The sentences for most of the suspects were slightly lower than the demands of the anti-terror prosecutor’s office – which had demanded the maximum in all cases. If it had been up to the prosecutors, ten life sentences would have been handed out. Five persons convicted in absentia, Islamic State leaders who have probably already been eliminated in Syria and Iraq, also received the same sentence. But of the other five demands, only two were granted.
Schiphol
In addition to Salah Abdeslam, it is Mohamed Abrini. He traveled twice to the Caliphate and provided all kinds of logistical aid to the terror cell. He arranged cars and shelters, and was involved in preparations for attacks that ultimately fell through, such as an attack on Schiphol. He was supposed to participate in the attack in Brussels in 2016, but declined – he has yet to be tried for that. He will be sentenced to life in prison, of which he must serve 22 years.
Abdeslam has been sentenced to life without parole. That means that he really is behind bars for life, a sentence that is rarely handed out. President Jean-Louis Périès soon informed the packed courtroom that the court sees Abdeslam as a co-perpetrator of the attacks. He was supposed to blow himself up in a bar in northern Paris, but at the trial claimed he declined out of ‘humanity’.
The anti-terror prosecutor’s office thinks the attack was canceled because his bomb belt was broken. The court agrees and dismisses Abdeslam’s story as nonsense. The prime suspect in the trial said Monday that he had not killed anyone and that it would be unjust to convict him of murder.
Abdeslam’s attitude changed during all those months. In September last year, he said he was an Islamic State fighter, but later apologized and even shed a tear. Many relatives and victims, who were present in large numbers in court all those months or listened in via a highly secured web radio, call those words insincere. They see it as a tactic to get a reduced sentence. A strategy that failed.
The convicts have ten days to challenge the court’s decision. An appeal is expected, which will take place next September at the earliest.