French intelligence criticised in Charlie Hebdo trial

Security service should be in the dock over its failure to thwart terror attacks in 2015, say defence lawyers

THE French intelligence service should be in the dock over failures to avert the Charlie Hebdo and Jewish supermarket terror attacks, a Paris court was told yesterday as 14 people stood trial over the atrocities of 2015.

Isabelle Coutant-peyre, a defence lawyer, said the trial was “unjust” as the attacks could have been avoided if the authorities had followed up on the leads they had on the Islamist suspects.

The three days of murders that started on Jan 7 2015 sparked a spate of Islamist attacks on French soil, some homegrown, some masterminded from abroad, that have since claimed more than 250 lives.

Security was tight and emotions high as 11 of the defendants appeared in the courtroom while three others are being tried in absentia after fleeing to

Syria days before the murders.

Among the civil plaintiffs in the room was Charlie Hebdo editor Laurent “Riss” Sourisseau, who survived the attack on its Paris offices by brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi who killed 12, including cartoonist Jean Cabut (below).

Also present was Malian-born Lassana Bathily, who was hailed a hero and granted French nationality for saving several customers at the Hyper Cacher store just east of Paris. He stepped in after Amédy Coulibaly stormed the supermarket taking customers hostage and killing four. Coulibaly, who had sworn allegiance to Islamic State (IS), also killed a police officer before he was shot dead by officers. Opening the trial, Ms Coutant-peyre,

who has previously represented the convicted terrorist Carlos the Jackal, complained about the role of the security services in the attacks.

She said: “I sympathise with the suffering of all victims, which is irreparable and definitive. But it could have been avoided if intelligence and surveillance services had done their job properly.”

French authorities ended a phone tap on one of the Kouachi brothers a few months before they stormed the editorial offices. At least one had trained with al-qaeda in Yemen and been convicted of an earlier terrorism offence. Lawyers for the civil plaintiffs described the remarks as an “indecent” attempt to deflect blame.

Defence lawyers also argued that was against their clients’ rights to testify with protective face masks on due to the coronavirus pandemic. “You are going to judge a man whose face you cannot see,” they said.

The presiding magistrate promised to seek a solution before launching into a three-hour reading of the indictment.

It began with an account of how the Kouachi brothers had shot their victims, including several well-known cartoonists, “at point-blank range”.

He said there was no doubt that the attacks were “synchronised”, citing text messages between the killers.

Satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo, which has been branded a beacon of free speech, marked the opening of the trial by republishing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed that had stoked fury in the Muslim world.

About 150 experts and witnesses will be called over the next two-and-a-half months in the first terrorism trial to be recorded for state archives.

Only 12 French trials have previously been filmed for posterity, including that of Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie.

The defendants being tried in absentia are Hayat Boumedienne, Coulibaly’s girlfriend, and two brothers, Mohamed and Mehdi Belhoucine. The brothers are thought to have died while fighting alongside IS, while officials suspect Boumedienne is on the run in Syria.

The only person facing a life sentence is Ali Riza Polat who is accused of acting as the link between the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly.