A three-month series of lawsuits and trials preceded the verdict locking up main defendants for decades.

A historic verdict was much anticipated following the precedent-setting lawsuit brought against the 14 suspected accomplices in the brutal slaughter in January 2015 in the editorial office of the satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo. Interest mounted in the announcement of the verdict, which marked the end of the three-month lawsuit, with journalists from around the world in attendance.

The harshest punishment went to Ali Riza Polat, 34, the main defendant responsible for organising the assassinations. He was found guilty of complicity in the murder, but was acquitted of leading a terrorist criminal organisation. The prosecution had previously applied for life imprisonment, but the court eventually delivered a lesser sentence of thirty years, two-thirds of which must manditorily be served.

Of the 14 defendants, only 11 appeared at the trial. Two of the three absentees, Mohamed and Mehdi Belhoucine, allegedly lost their lives in Syria, while Hayat Boumeddien – partner of Amédy Coulibaly, who was shooting in the Kosher shop in Paris and later himself shot – is still on the run, presumably in Syria.

The woman was found guilty of financing terrorism and belonging to a criminal terrorist network. Before the series of attacks, the young woman went to Turkey through Spain and from there to Syria where she joined the Islamic State terrorist organisation where she still enjoys a special rank and protection due to the terrorist acts committed by her late husband. The French court, however, has convicted her in her absence. She received 30 years behind bars, similar to Ali Riza Polat.

According to the judgement, Amar Ramdani, one of the main financers of the terrorist attacks, who made his money from dubious car dealings,  was well aware of Coulibaly s plan, so he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Claude Hermant, a Lille-based neonazi activist and arms dealer who had acquired the Kouachi brothers weapons, has been given 8 years for other arms-dealing related crimes. However, it had not been proven that he had anything to do with the firearms used in the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo editorial office, so he was not prosecuted. The court said the Kouachi brothers weapons could not be traced.

According to the court, Mohamed Belhoucine, who allegedly died in Syria, provided significant financial support to Amedy Coulibaly, the shooter in the Kosher shop in Paris who was later taken down by police. Although the man has allegedly died, the court has given him a 22-year sentence, and his accomplice, Mehdi Belhoucine who is also registered dead, was sentenced earlier in January for his involvement in a terrorist crime organisation, so he was acquitted of this charge.

Following the sentencing, Charlie Hebdo s attorney, Richard Malka told BFMTV news channel he was pleased as justice has been served.

However, lawyers of the main defendant, Ali Riza Polat, who has been sentenced for 30 years have announced they will file an appeal. They found it incomprehensible that their protege has received the same 30-year sentence as Hayat Boumeddiene, the widow of one of the killer terrorists, Amedy Coulibaly.