stupor and procedure at the opening of the trial – Liberation

The first day of the trial for the assassination of Samuel Paty, beheaded by an 18-year-old radicalized Islamist, began Monday, November 4. Eight people appear before the specially composed Assize Court for having participated, to varying degrees, in the terrorist act.

“The body of Samuel Paty was found on the ground, lengthwise, odd side [de la rue]. The head, separated from the body, positioned perpendicular to the left.” As the introductory report was read, the courtroom held its breath. Only the clicking of journalists' computer keyboards punctuates the sentences of the president of the specially composed Paris Assize Court, Franck Zientara. The document, whose presentation lasted almost three hours, explores the last minutes of the life of Samuel Paty, the calendar of the assailant Abdoullakh Anzorov and his two friends Azim Epsirkhanov and Naïm Boudaoud the days preceding the attack, as well as as the terrorist's virtual exchanges with the jihadosphere before his act. This Monday, November 4, the trial of the eight people tried after the assassination of Samuel Paty opened in the major trial room of the Paris courthouse, where those for the attacks of November 13 and Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Kosher. In the absence of the perpetrator, shot dead by the police.

Between the call of the accused, the civil parties and then the witnesses and the reading of the report, the first day is mainly devoted to procedural formalities. But in the 750 m² courtroom, few benches have not found takers. It had barely struck nine when two sprawling queues spread out on the Île de la Cité. Leaving, on the quadr sidewalk