In April, the Government had charged the 87 defendants...

In April, the Government had charged the 87 defendants with secession and undermining state security. When the trial finally began, the charges had been downgraded to murder, complicity to murder, illegal possession of arms, and arson. The prosecution based its case on confessions it said the accused had made to gendarmes during preliminary investigations. The 87 denied all the charges, saying that any confessions had been extracted under torture.