The hearing of the former head of state at the trial of attacks of November 13, 2015 was eagerly awaited. The main courtroom has never been so crowded since the start of the trial on September 8. Never before had so many media been present. For more than four hours, this Wednesday, November 10, Francois Hollande was questioned by magistrates and lawyers on France’s international policy, military engagement within the framework of the international coalition in Iraq and Syria, on decisions taken in the area of anti-terrorism, etc.
The hearing of a President of the Republic before an Assize Court is extremely rare. Renowned speaker, at ease at the helm, the former head of state justified his decisions at the time. “No answer will ever satisfy the victims, but all the services did what they could”, he repeated. By dodging the most embarrassing questions such as that of Me Nogueras, lawyer for one of the accused: “What went wrong? “
The terrorist threat was “daily”
“Islamic State has been targeting France since the summer of 2014.” Asked about the state of the terrorist threat on the eve of the attacks of November 13, 2015, François Hollande recalled that she “Was already on our soil since the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Hypercacher ”. In August 2015, there is the foiled Thalys, a gunman returned from Syria neutralized by American soldiers in the train between Brussels and Paris. “ It’s at that moment, said the former president, That I say we gotta prepare, that we know we’re the target […] Every day we were under threat ”, he continues, dismissing a more important alert the day before November 13. “We knew that operations were being prepared. That leaders in Syria were training individuals to target Westerners […] But we didn’t know where, when or how they were going to hit us. “
Attacks because of French military commitments?
On a chilling soundtrack of the attack at Bataclan, which left 90 dead, the terrorists repeat the name of François Hollande, designating him as responsible for what they do. “A learned formula, like a signature”, said the ex-head of state. This is the message the sponsors have asked to get across. Their intention? “Make us give up” and “Divide us”, he explains. Their goal is to “Destabilize our country, to set up a divide […] ».
But he assures him, this military intervention by France, he has “Would do again”. Stating that it was launched in Iraq, “Where we were called to come to the aid of the country, in August 2014”. But in Syria, it is from September 2015, “When we found out that there were training camps where the attacks targeting our soil had in fact been preparing for months.” And to point out that the terrorists were looking above all “To attack our way of life. They did not attack barracks or institutional places. No, they hit the Stade de France, the Bataclan and terraces. “
“Major decisions” between January and November 2015
Was everything done after the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, Montrouge and the Hypercacher to avoid those of November 13? The question was put to François Hollande. “Between January and November 2015, there were several major decisions taken by France and Europe”, he recalled, referring to the law on intelligence, “The most important that we could take. The previous one dated from 1991, at a time when there were no computers or laptops like today. This has enabled us to act more effectively. Nearly 1,000 posts have also been created for internal (DGSI) and external (DGSE) security. But we have to train them! “, he continues.
“Can we ever do enough? We have made up for lost time during all these months ”, adds the former president. “After that, we are aware that there were intelligence difficulties in knowing exactly when and where we were going to be hit. “ “Has everything been done to avoid these attacks? “ insists a lawyer for the civil parties. “If I had the slightest doubt as to what we had done, I would tell you, expressing the forgiveness I would ask for.” But I am not in this process, answers François Hollande. I measure the suffering of the victims. I try by my answers to give this confirmation that everything has been done. “
Should the Bataclan be protected?
What did François Hollande know about threats to the Bataclan ? Following an attack in Cairo in February 2009, the Egyptian, Belgian and French services learned that the Islamist Farouk Ben Abbes was planning to attack this performance hall. Notably because it had hosted charity galas for an Israeli institution. A judicial investigation was opened in France in 2010, but for lack of concrete elements it resulted in a dismissal. While I was head of state, we did not have any specific information on the Bataclan and on an anti-Semitic project.
, answers the ex-president.
Me Olivier Morice, lawyer for a father who lost his son in the concert hall, insists. In August 2015, the anti-terrorist judge Marc Trévidic learned from the jihadist Reda Hame that an attack on a rock concert hall in France was being prepared. From now on, “What decisions have been taken with regard to concert halls? “ asks the lawyer. The former president seems to get around the question: “Yes, the terrorists were targeting places where there were as many people as possible. Now, we know a certain number of rock venues. If we had known anything about the Bataclan, we would have banned concerts. ” Me Morice does not seem satisfied: “No preventive measures have been taken. No link was made between the threats of 2009 and 2015 ”, he sighs.
Why did the military not intervene?
Another question haunts many victims: for what reasons did the eight soldiers of the Sentinel device, who were near the Bataclan, not intervene? They arrived on site shortly after 10 p.m. and joined police officers from the Val-de-Marne anti-crime squad, already present. However, they did not lend a hand to the latter.
During the parliamentary committee’s investigation in 2016, a police brigadier-chief had asked for the possibility of hiring these soldiers, and suffered a negative response from the prefecture from police : ” We are not in a war zone ”, she had justified.
At the helm, François Hollande considered that these soldiers “Only followed the instructions. It was not up to Operation Sentinel to intervene. For these difficult operations, specialized units must intervene ”, explained the former head of state. And this one to recall that the BRI which freed the eleven hostages of the Bataclan, “Has been exemplary”.
A late arrest of Salah Abdeslam?
Salah Abdeslam, the last survivor of the Paris commandos, was arrested on March 18, 2016, in Molenbeek (Belgium). Could he have been before, knowing that the closure of the borders had been ordered immediately after the attacks, questions the first assessor of the Assize Court? On November 14, 2015, shortly after 9 a.m., when two of his friends brought him back to Belgium, the trio was checked at the Thun-Lévêque tollgate (North). The three men are held for half an hour. The files checked by the police indicate only common law crimes against Salah Abdeslam. His judicial record, established in Belgium, due to radicalization does not appear. “It is not the responsibility of France. It is implied that it is the responsibility of another State ”, sweeps François Hollande. Follow his gaze …
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