Confusion and contradictions as Ali El Haddad Asufi takes the stand
Four weeks of testimony from and about the Paris attacks accused ended on Friday with evidence concerning Ali El Haddad Asufi, suspected of having provided weapons for the terrorists who killed 130 people in Paris on the night of 13 November 2015.
Issued on:
It was a quiet day in court, with seats once again available in the wake of the media feeding frenzy provoked by Thursday's appearance of Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the attack teams.
Quiet in a different way since the central accusation against Ali El Haddad Asufi – that he was involved with supplying guns to the killers – will not be examined until later in the trial.
Friday's hearing was devoted to the suspect's religious background, his relationships with the other accused, and his possible involvement in helping now-deceased terrorist killers reach Islamic State territory in Syria.
Asufi had an answer for everything.
Don't mention the war
His best friend Ibrahim El Bakraoui made two unsuccessful attempts to join Islamic State in Syria. Did Ali Asufi know of his intentions? "No."
Ibrahim El Bakraoui eventually blew himself up in the 2016 Brussels bombings. Had Ali Asufi noticed any radicalisation, any change in his friend's behaviour or attitudes? "No, not particularly."
Why did Asufi fly to Athens with El Bakraoui in 2015, spend a single night in the Greek capital, and then return to Brussels?
"Because El Bakraoui had forged papers. He thought we had more chance of getting through if we were together."
"Did you know that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the eventual commander of the Paris attacks, was in Athens at the same time?"
"No."
"Did you meet Abaaoud?"
"No."
And so it continued, the court president, Jean-Louis Périès, repeatedly expressing his desire for more logic, for answers which would make sense.
Ali El Haddad Asufi was fully cooperative. Not particularly articulate, not always clear, but polite and respectful.
Logic, in the sense intended by president Périès, was a different matter.
The contradictions in the evidence given by the witness at various stages of the investigation remain unresolved.
Enthusiastic witnesses
Two witnesses, the accused's sister and his girlfriend, testified by videolink from Brussels.
Both were predictably adamant in their conviction that the man they knew and loved was incapable of any association with the horrible acts perpetrated by the terrorists.
He is jovial, sociable, fun-loving, helpful, generous, calm...
When it was his turn, Ali Asufi described himself as "an ordinary Muslim, normal, with bursts of fervour after, say, a funeral".
On Islamic State, he felt "like you, like everybody else. It's an excessive version of Islam. That wasn't how I was brought up.
"I'm a Muslim, but I'm against them, with their beheadings, their brutal murders. That's not Islam.
"In 2014, 2015, the violence associated with that organisation was so bad that I was sure it was a conspiracy theory. It was so terrible that I thought no human beings could behave like that."
No question of prejudice
Ali Asufi's girlfriend, who testified anonymously from Brussels, ended her evidence by telling the court that "what you think about Ali is completely wrong".
To which the tribunal president replied "we have decided nothing for the moment. He is presumed innocent."
"But you have certain prejudices against him."
"No madame," Jean-Louis Périès calmly assured her, "there are no prejudices in this court."
The trial continues.
Follow all the coverage of the trial here
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe