Seven years on, France commemorated on Sunday the Paris attacks of 13 November 2015 with a tribute to the victims at the scene of the attacks alongside Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who was present for the ceremony.
In 2015, the terrorist cell attacked the Stade de France, the terraces of the cafés Le Carillon, Le Petit Cambodge, La Bonne Bière, Le Comptoir Voltaire, La Belle Equipe and finally the Bataclan concert hall, in the east of the capital.
At the ceremony, tributes were paid to the 130 people who died and the 350 who were wounded. The names of the victims were read out, a wreath was laid and a minute’s silence was observed.
The attacks, claimed by the Islamic State (EI) organisation, were the worst in the history of France.
Borne was surrounded on Sunday by Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and the presidents of the victims’ associations Life for Paris, Arthur Dénouveaux, and 13onze15, Philippe Duperron.
Credit: Belga
“I am thinking today of all the victims of the attacks (…). To all the lives that were taken. To all those who live each day with the absence of a loved one. To all the survivors. Time does not erase the memory, nor the pain,” tweeted François Hollande, who was head of state at the time of the attacks.
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The historic trial of these attacks ended on 29 June, after ten months of hearings. The special Paris assize court sentenced Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the terrorist cell, to life imprisonment, the heaviest sentence in the penal code.
Abdeslam was arrested in Brussels after fleeing France and going into hiding in the Belgian capital. His 19 co-defendants also received sentenced ranging between two years and life imprisonment.
