PARIS (AP) — A French court has found 20 men guilty of involvement in the Islamic State terrorist attacks on the Bataclan theater, Paris cafes and France’s national stadium in 2015.
The deadliest peacetime attacks in French history killed 130 people.
Presiding judge Jean-Louis Peries rendered the verdict Wednesday in a courthouse surrounded by unprecedented security.
The chief suspect, Salah Abdeslam, was found guilty of murder and attempted murder in relation with a terrorist enterprise, among other charges. He faces life in prison. There is no death penalty in France.
According to The New York Times, Abdeslam admitted to dropping off suicide bombers who carried out the attacks, but he claimed he changed his mind about blowing himself up.
“I made mistakes,” Abdeslam reportedly said. “But I’m a not a murderer, I’m not a killer.”
The verdicts wrap up a nine-month trial.