Charlie Hebdo terror trial begins in Paris, five years after deadly attacks
Fourteen people have gone on trial in Paris on charges of alleged involvement in attacking the weekly Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket five years ago, leaving 17 people dead.
The suspects are accused of having provided logistical support to the perpetrators brothers Said and Chérif Kouachi, and their accomplice Amedy Coulibaly — and face charges of participating in a terrorist criminal association.
If convicted, several of the defendants face sentences of up to 20 years. At least one faces a potential life sentence.
Eleven of the suspects will appear in court — 10 of them from behind bulletproof glass. Three others, who traveled to Syria in the days before the attacks began, will be tried in absentia.
Hayat Boumedienne, Amedy Coulibaly’s wife, is one of those being tried in absentia.
DURING THE VIOLENCE
According to report, A total of 17 people were killed in the attacks, which took place in the French capital over three days in January 2015.
Twelve of those who died were shot when the Kouachi brothers forced their way into the Charlie Hebdo building and opened fire during its editorial meeting on January 7.
The victims included the magazine’s editor, Stephane “Charb” Charbonnier, several cartoonists and columnists, and a protection officer assigned to protect Charb, who had been the target of threats over the magazine’s publication, in 2006, of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
THE TRIAL
The trial, which is being held amid tight security at Paris’ Criminal Court, is expected to last 49 days, with 144 witnesses called to give evidence.
The trial is indeed “historic,” but it also risks reopening a wound in France’s national psyche.
Furthermore, Special viewing galleries have been opened for the public to be able to watch the proceedings, which will be shown live on giant screens.
On Tuesday Charlie Hebdo announced intentions to republish the controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in its latest edition, which was released Wednesday.
GoldenNewsng further gathered that, the magazine linked the publication of the cartoons to the trial, describing them as “evidence.” The cartoons, it said, are “part of History, and one cannot rewrite History, neither can it be erased.
Speaking from Lebanon on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron defended Charlie Hebdo decision to republish the cartoons, saying people in France had the “freedom to blaspheme.
The French President further added that, In France, there’s also a freedom to blaspheme that is linked to the freedom of conscience. So, from where I stand, I’m there to protect all those freedoms.
“I don’t have to comment on a journalist’s choice. I just have to say that, in France, one can criticize people who are governing and one can blaspheme.”
The latest edition of Charlie Hebdo also carries a tribute to the employees killed in the 2015 attack.
