Brother of Paris Attacks Mastermind Testifies in November 13 Trial

"I am sorry for all the victims, the innocent people killed in all corners of the world. [...] As for the facts, I am not able to give you information. Therefore, I do not know if I will be of great use in this trial," warned Yassine Abaaoud at the outset, after giving his identity. The 26-year-old student was testifying by videoconference from the headquarters of the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office in Brussels, last Thursday.

"Regarding my brother Abdelhamid, I know nothing. Our family is in doubt, because we have not seen his body, nor a photo. There are legends circulating to say that he would still be alive and that it was not him who committed these attacks," explains Yassine Abaaoud, adding that his family was "skeptical" about his death. The last time he spoke to his brother on the phone was in January 2015. "He said that the Charlie Hebdo attacks had just happened and that it was only the beginning," the witness recounts.

When questioned about the radicalization of his elder and his macabre projects, Yassine replies: "My big brother left the family home at the age of 16. I did not know his activities, his associations." Abdelhamid had left for Syria in January 2014, with their younger brother Younès then aged 13. This departure put Yassine in difficulty. The Moroccan justice system had sentenced him for "apology for terrorism" and "non-denunciation of terrorist crimes". "I don’t understand why I was detained in Morocco," he says.

Unsatisfied with Yassine’s answers, a lawyer for the civil parties tries to get him to open up. "You lost two brothers (the little Younès would also have died in Syria, editor’s note) that must have been a shock for your family..." "I prefer not to talk about it," Yassine Abaaoud retorts. He agrees to answer for the victims. "I will answer you. My family was shattered, in short it was not easy for any person. We still hope for the return of my little brother. And we are still paying the price today. We were ordinary merchants and everything changed. Living here in Belgium without my parents. My parents are separated. It was not easy and it is still not easy."