The testimony of a courageous woman who no longer exists

Policemen and firefighters gather in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis city center, following an operation to track down suspected Paris attackers on November 18, 2015. Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Chakib Akrouh and Hasna Aït Boulhacen were killed. AFP - LIONEL BONAVENTURE

On Friday the Paris special criminal court, where those suspected of complicity in the November 2015 terrorist attacks are being tried, heard evidence from a remarkable woman who saved many lives, at the cost of her own identity.

A blurred image on a screen, an electronically falsified voice, a name which is not her own. That's all that remains of the woman who, on 16 November 2015, contacted the police to say she knew where Abdelhamid Abaaoud, terrace murderer and coordinator of the Paris attacks, was hiding.