Sep. 5 () –
Seven men and a woman have been appearing since Monday before a court judging the Nice attack, in which 86 people died –including 15 minors– and some 400 were injured, when an armed man drove a truck into a crowd on the holiday of July 14, 2016.
The attacker, Mohamed Lahouiej Bouhlel, was shot dead by the French Police, however, in the process that begins this Monday those people who would have participated in the organization of the attack will be judged.
Three of the people under investigation — Mohamed Ghraieb, Chokri Chafrou and Ramzi Arefa — are being prosecuted for association with terrorist criminals, punishable by thirty years in prison.
The other five defendants will be tried for common crimes, criminal association and violation of weapons legislation. Of these five, one of them is a fugitive.
They are suspected of having associated in the search for weapons or of having provided the weapons to the terrorist, being aware of his radicalization, despite not knowing that he was preparing the attack, since the latter has not been proven.
More than six years after the crime, which occurred on July 14, 2016, the relatives of the victims hope that the opening of the trial in Paris will help to understand.
“My clients are waiting for the truth, they are waiting for Justice to rule and they are waiting for a sentence to be pronounced,” Olivia Chalus Pénochet, the representative of 45 complainants, summed up for BFMTV.
The lawyers acknowledge that most victims are cautious about what to expect from the trial, although it can shed “light” on the “gray areas that weigh on the file.” Likewise, they consider that this process “can have a calming effect”, explained the lawyer Fabien Rajon.
“The victims want to make known what they have suffered. They are also looking for recognition,” added Chalus Pénochet.
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