“Charlie Hebdo” trial: 30 years in prison for the main defendants – Politics –

Polat is considered the right-hand man of the murderer Amédy Coulibaly, who shot a policewoman and killed four hostages in a supermarket after the attack on the magazine. The attacks resulted in a total of 17 deaths, the three murderers were shot by the police.

Judge Régis de Jorna explained his decision that the court determined that Polat had assisted the murderer Coulibaly in a concrete and detailed manner in carrying out his criminal acts. He had enough knowledge of Coulibaly’s intentions.

The prosecutor had asked for life imprisonment. She had argued that the Frenchman with Turkish roots played a key role in preparing for the attacks. Polat had always denied knowing the attack plans.

In the trial of the terrorist series in January 2015, 14 people were charged, but three of them are on the run. Since the beginning of September, a special court for terrorist cases has been hearing not only the attack on the editorial team of “Charlie Hebdo”, but also the subsequent attack on a kosher supermarket in the south of Paris. The terrorists killed 17 people. The three perpetrators, the brothers Chérif and Said Kouachi and Coulibaly, were shot dead by the security forces.

The defendants were accused of helping in various ways to prepare the attacks. The process in the Palace of Justice in Paris is carried out under strict security precautions. It had been discontinued for about a month because several defendants had contracted the coronavirus. More recently, Polat’s health had delayed the resumption. Among other things, he complains of persistent nausea.