Epic Paris terror trial reaches half-way stage with more questions than answers

A commemorative plaque on the pavement in front the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, where armed jihadists killed some 90 people on the night of 13 November 2015. AFP - THOMAS SAMSON

Despite the ravages provoked by Covid-19, which have already led to three weeks of suspensions, the Paris terror trial has reached the end of its second major stage: the examination of the activities and religious attitudes of the accused up to the summer of 2015, before the detailed planning of the Paris attacks began. The crucial questions have concerned "radicalisation" and the Islamic State project in Syria-Iraq.

It's hard to say where we are. This trial opened last September and probably won't end before July. So we're roughly half way through.