BENOIT PEYRUCQ / AFP
This sketch made on 5 September 2022 shows the defendants in the Nice attacks trial, with from left to right: Enkeledja Zace, Artan Henaj, Maksim Celaj, Chokri Chafroud, Endri Elezi, Ramzi Arefa and Mohamed Ghraieb.
JUSTICE – At the time of the requests for the trial for the Nice attack, the prosecution requested this Tuesday, December 6, from two to 15 years’ imprisonment against the eight defendants, “connections” to varying degrees ” chain “ having contributed to the bombing that left 86 dead and more than 400 injured on the Promenade des Anglais on 14 July 2016.
And the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) has therefore asked for 15 years’ imprisonment for the three main defendants, who are being investigated for “Terrorist Association of Criminals”but still asked the court not to maintain the qualification “terrorist” for one of them, Ramzi Arefa.
Against the five defendants, four of whom are Albanians, prosecuted for crimes under common law relating to arms trafficking, the PNAT has asked for sentences of between 2 and 10 years’ imprisonment with permanent disqualification from French territory for three of the four defendants of Albanian origin.
“Doubt is not allowed” for Mohamed Ghraieb and Chokri Chafroud
Ramzi Arefa “I could not know radicalization” of the murderer Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel at the wheel of his 19-ton truck on the Promenade des Anglais on July 14, 2016, estimated the public prosecutor who still asked for 15 years’ imprisonment against him as for the other two defendants tried for association of terrorist criminals, Mohamed Ghraieb and Chokri Chafroud.
These last two “they were not ignorant of (Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s) ability to commit acts related to his radical ideology”, said Jean-Michel Bourlès, one of the three attorneys general of the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office (Pnat) at the end of his indictment. On them “Doubt is not allowed. They acted knowing his speeches, his charm, his closeness to the Islamic State ” et “they were not unaware of his ability to commit acts related to his adherence to radical ideology”.
On the other hand, continued the Advocate General, Ramzi Arefa, accused of having supplied a weapon to Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, “I could not know the evolution and radicalization” of the Promenade des Anglais killer because of his connections “recent” and less frequent with him. Consequentially, “We will ask you to convict Ramzi Arefa for the simple crime of common criminal conspiracy and not for terrorist conspiracy”he said, provoking astonished reactions on the benches of the civil parties.
The prosecutor then asked for 15 years in prison for Mohamed Ghraieb and Chokri Chafroud, believing that their “true closeness” with the killer “knowledge of his radicalization”their association “to various levels” the rental of the truck used for the bombing and them “positive steps to equip him with a weapon” made them very guilty of terrorist conspiracy.
Jean-Michel Bourlès and his Pnat colleagues Alexa Dubourg and Rachel Lecuyer, unfolded requisitions for almost eight hours, emphasizing in particular that the accused should be tried “exclusively for the facts of which they are accused”even if it could generate “frustrations” for the victims, in particular due to the absence of the main instigator of the attack: Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, shot dead by the police.
“Singularity of Horror”
“There will be frustrations, it is inevitable”Thus launched Advocate General Alexa Dubourg by opening the three-voice indictment of the Pnat, recalling that” nobody “ of the eight defendants before the special assize court could not be judged “as if he were the author of the attack”.
“Islamist terrorism has claimed the lives of several hundred people. Jihadist ideology is the one that undermines the foundations of our democracy, the one that foments hatred among citizens and divides society.also pointed out Mr. Bourlès at the end of his indictment.
At the beginning of the hearing, the Pnat had denied those who believe that there are defendants “because we were looking for scapegoats and we wanted a trial at all costs”. “There were enough charges for a trial to take place. (…) No one can come and say that the folder is empty”, Ms. Dubourg assured. She remembered “The Singularity of Horror” of this attack, which he had targeted “families”. With as many as fifteen children and adolescents killed by Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel.
If the Pnat representative defended the principle of judicial autopsies, sometimes ” necessary “admitted that the Pnat had “bankrupt” in his “legal obligation” information from the families of the victims, which they had generated “additional pain” et “a breach of trust with the judicial institution”.
Mohamed Ghraieb and Chokri Chafroud risk a maximum of twenty years in prison. Ramzi Arefa faces life imprisonment because he is in a state of recidivism due to a conviction for theft in 2014.
After the indictment and the defense briefs, scheduled for December 7 to 9, the defendants will have the floor one last time, on December 12, before the court retires to deliberate. The hearing will not resume until Wednesday at 9:30, for the start of the defense arguments. Before a verdict handed down on Dec. 13.
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