A new episode of "Unsolved Cases," a popular series from NHK Special, titled "File.17 'The Paris Terrorist Attacks: Why Did the Young People Change So Suddenly?'" will air on NHK General from 10:45 PM to 11:29 PM on July 17th (simultaneous broadcast and on-demand streaming will be available on NHK ONE).
The "Paris attacks" occurred on November 13, 2015, in Paris, France. A suicide bomb was detonated in a football stadium, shootings took place in cafes and restaurants in the city center, and a massacre occurred at the Bataclan live music venue, resulting in 132 deaths and over 400 injuries. Nine of the ten perpetrators died at the scene, and the one survivor was sentenced to life imprisonment, bringing the case to a judicial close. But has it truly been solved...?
The program director covered Paris for an extended period immediately after the terrorist attacks, observing the city's turmoil in the wake of the incident. Upon learning that the perpetrators were of the same generation as him, he wanted to trace their trajectory and understand why they committed the crime. This time, he managed to interview the perpetrators' father and siblings, who had remained silent for many years. These family members, who had lived under intense criticism and prejudice, spoke to the Japanese media for the first time. What emerged was a picture vastly different from the "image of terrorists" that had been imagined.
Sammy Amimour, one of the attackers at the Bataclan concert venue, was a bright student and a young man sensitive to the suffering of others. He wanted to help the poor and had a strong interest in the injustices of society. His family says they still cannot understand why such a son would participate in mass murder. The reporting team traces the days when he continued to search for meaning in life. His struggle to find his place, his search for his roots, the ideologies he encountered on the internet, his fascination with the Syrian civil war, and the cunning recruitment by the extremist organization ISIS (Islamic State)... It was the process by which a young man was gradually drawn into a different world.
Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving perpetrator from Belgium, developed radical ideologies under the influence of a childhood friend who had become an ISIS recruiter. Amidst anxieties about the future and a sense of unease with society, he was drawn to the illusion of a "new life" promoted on social media. During the Paris attacks, he fled after delivering the perpetrators to the scene, and six years later, in court, he stated, "This is not the person I wanted to become." Interviews with those involved reveal that he was drawn into a massive terrorist plot without fully understanding the whole picture.
A woman who was shot and severely injured at a live music venue continues to engage in dialogue with a young man who was an ISIS fighter, in order to prevent the incident from happening again. Through her story of trying to break the cycle of hatred despite carrying deep wounds, the program raises questions about "what terrorism is" and "what society should learn." "Unsolved Cases" is a popular series of NHK Special programs that started in 2011, unraveling historical events through thorough investigative reporting. It will be broadcast as a regular program from October 2025 to March 2026, unearthing new facts and testimonies, and highlighting connections to the present day and lessons learned. This time, announcer Izumi Yamauchi is in charge of the narration.
