A landmark trial opens Monday at a Paris court in which five men stand accused of Islamic State kidnappings in Syria more than 10 years ago, when seven Western hostages were taken, including four French journalists.
Among the accused is Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche, who is currently serving a life sentence for the deadly attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels in 2014.
The trial – expected to last until 21 March – will revisit a period in which foreign journalists and humanitarian workers were targeted by the Islamic State group.
The defendants, two of whom are presumed dead, stand accused of the kidnap and torture, in connection with a terrorist organisation, of French journalists Didier François, Édouard Elias, Nicolas Hénin and Pierre Torres, Italian aid worker Federico Motka, British aid worker David Haines and Spanish journalist Marcos Marginedas Izquierdo.
The four French nationals, Motka and Marginedas Izquierdo were released in 2014, but Haines was executed by Islamic State in the same year.
Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche found guilty of 2014 terrorist attack on Brussels Jewish Museum
French connection
France's DGSI intelligence agency played a key role in identifying the perpetrators.
Three of the accused – Nemmouche, Abdelmalek Tanem and Kais Al-Abdallah – are either French citizens or have ties to France.
French authorities have long been at the forefront of efforts to bring justice to victims of terrorism, particularly those linked to the Islamic State’s reign in Syria and Iraq, and French anti-terrorism judges have been leading investigations into crimes committed by French jihadists abroad.
Nemmouche – a 38-year-old French national of Algerian descent – was convicted in Belgium for the Brussels attack. Prosecutors allege that before carrying out that atrocity, he was actively involved in the abduction and torture of Western hostages in Syria. His trial in Paris is expected to shed new light on the extent of his role within extremist networks.
France charges IS official's ex-wife with crimes against humanity
Testimonies of torture
The testimonies of the former hostages will be central to the prosecution’s case. They have provided harrowing accounts of their time in captivity, describing physical abuse, psychological torture and staged executions.
Their statements have been instrumental in identifying the accused and reconstructing the timeline of events.
Security around the trial is expected to be tight, given the high-profile nature of the defendants and the sensitive details involved.
