Did Salah Abdeslam replace Mohamed Abrini in the November 13 commandos at short notice? At the trial of these attacks, the special assize court of Paris questions Wednesday the main defendant on the course of a night of terror.
First of the defendants to be heard on the evening of November 13, 2015, Mohamed Abrini, “the man in the hat”, who abandoned his cart of explosives and fled during the attacks in Brussels in March 2016, reaffirmed on Tuesday that he was “planned” for the Paris attacks.
And assured that, unlike him, his childhood friend and co-accused Salah Abdeslam was “not”.
According to his statements to the court, Mohamed Abrini gave up a few days before the attacks and Salah Abdeslam, at the request of his older brother Brahim Abdeslam – future terrace killer -, inherited his “explosive vest” and his “Kalashnikov”. .
The prosecution believes instead that he withdrew at the last minute, on the evening of November 12, 2015, and that he is now seeking to “clear” Salah Abdeslam.
The latter had, during his first interrogation on the merits of the case, in February, hinted that he had “backtracked” and given up killing on November 13.
The 32-year-old Frenchman also said he had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) “48 hours” only before the attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis, which left 130 dead and hundreds injured.
Salah Abdeslam then said to reserve his explanations for “later”.
In March 2016, after four months on the run and his arrest in Belgium, he had already claimed to have “given up” to activate his explosive belt. Before remaining silent for the next five years, until the trial.
Salah Abdeslam had at the time explained that he should have blown himself up at the Stade de France, but that he had changed his mind when he arrived there. He would then have dropped off the three other suicide bombers and hit the road again, before abandoning his car in the 18th arrondissement, then his explosive belt south of Paris.
A thesis which it “is allowed to doubt” according to the prosecution. First, because the press release from the Islamic State (IS) organization mentions an attack “in the 18th arrondissement”, where the car was found, and which did not take place. Then because the experts established that the belt was defective. Finally because Salah Abdeslam would have told several relatives that it had not worked.