‘I didn’t kill anyone,’ says main suspect in November 2015 Paris attacks trial

Salah Abdeslam’s testimony — his most detailed remarks so far about the attacks in public — marked a significant moment in France’s biggest criminal trial in contemporary history. But the questioning of the 32-year-old also appeared to show the limits of how much closure the proceedings can bring to some of the victims and their relatives.

Prosecutors assert that he abandoned his plans to kill only after his explosive vest malfunctioned, but Abdeslam suggested Wednesday that he backtracked because he had second thoughts.

“I wanted to say today that I didn’t kill anyone, and I didn’t hurt anyone. I didn’t even make a scratch,” Abdeslam said in court, accusing people of “slandering” him.

Abdeslam is accused of having been one of the main perpetrators who deployed a mix of explosives and assault rifles Nov. 13, 2015, as they targeted the Bataclan theater, the national stadium where then-President François Hollande was attending a soccer match, and several cafes and restaurants. The Islamic State later claimed responsibility for what amounted to France’s worst post-World War II attack.

“I support the Islamic State — I am in favor of them, I love them,” Abdeslam acknowledged in court Wednesday. He said his allegiance to the Islamic State was initially prompted by the war in Syria — he felt “guilty” that while Syrians suffered, “I was in comfort, busy enjoying life.”

He said the Paris rampage was a response to “the aggression of France and the West.”

The night of the attacks will be the subject of future rounds of questioning.

Sharon Weill, a law professor at the American University of Paris who focuses on terrorism trials, said Wednesday’s testimony marked an important moment in the trial because Abdeslam had long refused to answer investigators’ questions.

At the start of Wednesday’s court session, Abdeslam suggested that he had not yet decided if he would cooperate in the questioning. “And then he spoke and spoke and spoke,” said Weill. “It’s as if he really wants to talk.”

Abdeslam’s defense strategy has frustrated some victims and observers who had hoped the main suspect would take responsibility for the crimes he stands accused of. The French Moroccan is the only defendant in court who is directly accused of murder. Five others are presumed dead, and one is imprisoned in Turkey. More than a dozen other people are on trial alongside Abdeslam but are charged with lesser crimes.

Some may never be convicted. After the January 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket, terrorism charges were dropped for six of 14 defendants.

Abdeslam, however, is expected to spend years in prison. In a separate trial focused on a shootout with police as they sought to apprehend him, he was already found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2018 by a Belgian court. During that trial, Abdeslam had refused to answer questions.

He has been more outspoken in Paris over the past months. At certain points of the current trial, Abdeslam appeared eager to stoke controversy and to provoke. On his first trial date in September, he raised his voice, claiming to have “been treated like a dog” while in detention. He removed his mask and said he had abandoned all other work “to become a fighter of the Islamic State.” But at other times, he has appeared less combative and more forthcoming.

Victims and their relatives have been able to follow the trial through a secure audio channel. There is a help hotline, and psychologists are on-site to assist.

Security around the custom-built courtroom in the center of Paris, near Notre Dame cathedral, continues to be tight. There are about 1,800 plaintiffs, represented by more than 300 lawyers. The proceedings were initially expected to take about nine months, with a verdict in late May, but the pandemic has delayed the process.

Ahead of the trial, victim representatives emphasized that they had low expectations to learn the truth from Abdeslam and other suspects. But the suspect’s comments have left a mark, with some of them describing Abdeslam’s past remarks as “additional stab wounds” or as “hate speech.”