Inside the Majdi N. Trial #36: Last words of the Accused
TRIAL OF MAJDI N.
Court of Assize – Paris, France
Trial Monitoring Summary #36
Hearing Date: May 28, 2025
CAUTION: Some testimony may include graphic descriptions of torture, rape or other violent acts.
Note that this summary is not a verbatim transcript of the trial; it is merely an unofficial summary of the proceedings.
Throughout this summary, [information located in brackets are notes from our trial monitor] and “information placed in quotes are statements made by the witness, judges or counsel.” The names and identifying information of witnesses have been redacted.
[Note: SJAC provides a summary of the proceedings while redacting certain details to protect witness privacy and to preserve the integrity of the trial.]
[Note: Rather than publishing the trial reports of the Majdi N. case in chronological order, SJAC has organized them thematically and coherently based on the content of the hearings, making the material more accessible by highlighting key issues and connections across the proceedings.]
Day 18 – May 28, 2025
Proceedings resumed at 9:40 AM.
Majdi N. greeted Presiding Judge Lavergne and the Court and said he appreciated their patience during the hearings. Majdi N. did not wish to go into the details of his case, since his lawyers had handled this work and defended what he believed from the beginning, namely that he was innocent of all the accusations.
Majdi N. alluded to the danger he faced when defecting from the Syrian regime but insisted that this was a choice he made to stand against injustice. Majdi N. believed that what he was facing today was much easier, but that he was not alone standing in the defendant’s box. His family and loved ones were also suffering.
Majdi N. recounted that his mother had cried every time he called her in the past five years and is now suffering from cancer. His father also faced Covid, and both were old and close to death. Majdi N. declared that he did not want to, once again, face an experience of death while sitting in prison. His fiancée had already died in a hurricane in the US while he was detained. Majdi N. said that the Jury did not only hold questions in their hand, but also the destiny of a man.
Majdi N. said that he still hoped to pursue his studies after his release and to participate in rebuilding his country. He expressed his desire to go back to Syria and to punish all people responsible for this disaster, no matter from which side.
Majdi N. urged the Court to make a distinction between him and Jaysh Al-Islam.
The debate was suspended at 9:49 a.m.
Presiding Judge Lavergne read Article 353 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure:
“Subject to the requirement that the decision be reasoned, the law does not require each of the judges and jurors making up the Assize Court to give an account of the means by which they have convinced themselves, nor does it prescribe any rules on which they must make the fullness and sufficiency of a piece of evidence particularly dependent; it requires them to question themselves in silence and meditation, and to seek, in the sincerity of their conscience, what impression the evidence brought against the accused and the means of his defense, have made on their reason. The law only requires them to ask this one question, which contains the full extent of their duties: “Do you have a deep conviction?”
Proceedings were suspended at 9:51 AM.
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