THE WORLD TODAY
Fourteen on trial over Charlie Hebdo attack
THIRTEEN men and a woman are going on trial over the 2015 attacks against the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a supermarket in Paris that sparked a wave of violence by the so- called Islamic State group in Europe.
Seventeen people and all three gunmen died during the three days of attacks in January 2015 in the French capital.
Those on trial in France’s terrorism court in Paris are accused of buying weapons, cars, and helping with logistics.
Most say they thought they were helping plan an ordinary crime.
Three, including the only woman to face charges, are being tried in absentia after leaving to join IS.
The attacks from January 7 to 9 in 2015 started during an editorial meeting at Charlie Hebdo, whose offices had been unmarked and guarded by police since the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad years before.
Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi gunned down 12 people before carjacking a vehicle and fleeing.
They claimed the attacks in the name of al- Qaida.
Two days later, on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath, Amedy Coulibaly stormed the Hyper Cacher supermarket, killing four hostages in the name of IS as the brothers took control of a printing office outside the French capital.
The attackers died that day during police raids.
It later emerged Coulibaly was also responsible for the seemingly random death of a young policewoman the previous day.
Most of the 11 who will appear in court insist their help in the mass killings was unwitting. The trial opened under tight security, with multiple police checks for anyone entering the main courtroom or the overflow rooms.