A new postponement of hearing. The trial of the November 13 attacks will resume as scheduled on January 4 but should be immediately suspended until January 13 due to the Covid-19 contamination of the main accused, Salah Abdeslam, the president of the court said in an email to parts.
The president justifies this suspension by the duration of the medical isolation of Abdeslam (17 days): “as it is and except for new element we could not therefore resume the debates until January 13: I will confirm this new data to you, Monday 4 at the latest ”, wrote Jean-Louis Périès.
Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the jihadist commandos which left 130 dead and hundreds injured in Paris and Saint-Denis in November 2015, tested positive for Covid-19 on December 27.
17 days of medical isolation
A source close to the case said Thursday that the trial was to be suspended for 48 hours, or until January 6.
“Initially, this medical isolation was for 10 days and ran until January 5, 2022 inclusive,” emphasizes Jean-Louis Périès. The medical department of the D3 building [de la prison de Fleury-Merogis] communicated to management a new document recommending his medical isolation until January 12, 2022 inclusive, i.e. a total duration of 17 days. It was indicated by the medical staff that the initial duration of the isolation (10 days) did not correspond to the directives concerning the Covid (17 days of isolation). “
Abdeslam is held for the duration of the hearing in Fleury-Mérogis prison, south of Paris. Several sources of contamination were detected there and a massive screening of detainees and staff is underway until Monday, according to a union source.
The special assize court has been trying since September 8 and until the end of May twenty defendants, including fourteen present at the hearing, suspected of being involved to varying degrees in the preparation of the most deadly jihadist attacks ever perpetrated in France.
The defendants were to be questioned from Monday. This postponement will upset the scheduling of the trial.
“I am not in a position for the moment to communicate a new schedule taking into account this information”, specifies the president to the parts.