Only a few dozen civil parties attended on Monday on the first day of audience on Monday. In Paris, where it takes place, as in Nice, where it is broadcast live.
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The row of metal detectors worthy of an airport at the entrance to the old Palais de Justice de Paris; The long light wooden room erected in the ancient room of lost steps in dark stone, the vast glass box, giant screens; The blue vests of the association “Paris helps the victims”, the pink vests of the organization, the red or green neck of the civil parties depending on whether or not they accept the approaches of journalists; Many lawyers already there in previous months.
Monday September 5, at the opening of the trial of the July 14, 2016 attack in Nice, everything recalls that of the attacks of November 13. And at the same time, everything is different.
Outside the courthouse, the police presence has diminished; Pedestrians and vehicles move freely on the City Island, which is no longer the partly closed bunker to traffic it had been during the nine months of “V13”. Inside, near the room, the crowds, the agitation and the hubbub have dropped by two tones from one trial to another.
And when, shortly before 2 p.m., the president of the Assize Court specially composed Laurent Raviot announces that “the criminal hearing is open”, a third of the room is empty. Only dozen civil parties came, out of the 865 formed before the opening of the debates. Some lawyers feared a trial without victims, given the distance from Nice. The audience risks floating a little in this so -called “big trial” room.
eight accused
In Nice, it is hardly different: the two immense rooms rented by the Ministry of Justice in the Acropolis Congress Palace will ring hollow all day. The debates that stand 700 kilometers away are broadcast live on giant screens against hundreds of empty chairs. The space is provided for 700 people; At least 430 civil parties live in the Alpes-Maritimes department; Only thirty has moved.
A year ago almost to the day, at the opening of the trial of November 13, the atmosphere was suffocating, saturated by feverishness and emotion. The first moments had been marked by the blows of Salah Abdeslam, the discomfort of accused Farid Kharkhach, the words of President Jean-Louis Périès on the importance of respect for the standard in this extraordinary trial. The atmosphere is this time more peaceful.
where eleven accused, some of which in the impressive CV, hugged in the box, there are three this time, with a much lesser caliber. Four others appear free-an eighth, detained in Tunisia where he had fled, will be judged in his absence.
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