A Small Slice of Relief

A French court found 20 men accused of organizing and perpetrating the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris guilty this week, ending a long-running saga centering on multiple attacks that sent shockwaves throughout France and around the world, Euronews reported.

The attacks, perpetrated by an Islamic State-linked group, killed 130 people across the French capital.

Key defendant Salah Abdeslam was found guilty of murder and attempted murder. The court sentenced him to life in prison without parole, considered the heaviest and rarest punishment under French criminal law.

Abdeslam was the only survivor of the terrorist team that organized and conducted the attacks.

Another defendant, Mohamed Abrini, was given a life sentence with a possibility of parole after 22 years in prison. During his trial, Abrini explained how he was supposed to take part in the attack but later backed out.

Meanwhile, the other defendants were sentenced to between two to 30 years in prison on various charges, including purchasing weapons, procuring getaway cars, making suicide vests and providing logistical support.

Analysts described the trial as unprecedented in scale and complexity, adding that it reflected the enormity of the attacks. The marathon, nine-month-long proceedings came after a six-year investigation into the atrocities that marked a dark period in France’s modern history, according to France 24.

For the victims’ relatives and survivors of the attacks, the trial was an excruciating ordeal but critical in their quest for justice and closure.