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The only surviving member of an Islamic State terrorist cell that killed 130 people in Paris in November 2015 was sentenced to life in prison by a French court on Wednesday, the harshest sentence possible under French law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Salah Abdeslam, a 32-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan descent, was caught alive by police four months after the assassinations that left 130 dead and more than 250 injured.<\/p>\n
In addition to Abdeslam, 19 other people accused of playing key roles in the country’s worst attacks in peacetime were found guilty “of all charges” on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Only 14 of them have appeared in court, while the other six have been tried in absentia.<\/p>\n
The sentence was read out by the head of a five-judge panel overseeing the marathon trial of 20 people accused of involvement in the worst peacetime bloodshed in modern French history.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of survivors and witnesses have followed the proceedings since their inception in September and they filled the specially built courtroom benches as the verdicts were read.<\/p>\n
A team of 10 Islamic State jihadists surrounded the French capital, attacking the national stadium, bars and concert hall Bataclan in an attack that traumatized the country.<\/p>\n
The trial has been the largest in modern French history, the culmination of a six-year investigation, in many countries, the findings of which go to more than a million pages.<\/p>\n
Abdeslam began the trial by challenging himself as an “Islamic State fighter,” but ended up apologizing to the victims and seeking mercy.<\/p>\n
The November 2015 attacks deeply traumatized France, with the choice of targets – the music and sports venues, the famous bars and cafes of the capital. The great loss of life marked the beginning of a terrible and violent period in Europe, as IS took responsibility for numerous attacks across the continent.<\/p>\n
France, under then-President Francois Hollande, who testified in court, stepped up its military campaign to defeat extremists in Syria and Iraq.<\/p>\n
Also on trial is Swedish citizen Osama Krayem, who has been identified in an infamous IS video showing a Jordanian pilot being burned alive in a cage.<\/p>\n
The commander-in-chief of the Paris attacks, the senior figure of Syria-based IS, Oussama Atar, was also tried in absentia, but is presumed dead. Radio Free Europe<\/a><\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n top channel
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