The video surveillance cameras of the city of Nice recorded the 4 minutes and 17 seconds of the murderous ride of the truck. The Special Assize Court opened, on Tuesday, a debate on the opportunity to broadcast these images at the hearing.
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At each mass attack trial, or almost, the same question arises at the judicial institution: should we disseminate the images of the killing when they exist? What should we show horror to be able to judge it?
This very sensitive debate was opened on Tuesday, September 6, on the second day of the trial of the July 14, 2016 attack in Nice, by the president of the Paris Special Assize Court, Laurent Raviot. Object of the discussion: the images taken by the video surveillance cameras of the 4 minutes and 17 seconds of the deadly ride of the truck which killed 86 people and made more than 300 injured on the evening of the national holiday.
“Me, I have no modesty in relation to the facts, it’s part of the file, started the magistrate, who has not yet seen the video placed under sealed. But you have to have three Things in mind: does it have an interest in understanding the conduct of the attack? Is it an interest in determining the possible responsibility of the accused? And does it have an interest in Victims? The dissemination of images can help do repair work, but you have to measure the price to pay for such viewing. I want to avoid voyeurism or sensationalism, I would like everyone to take the measure of what imply. I think these are very difficult images to bear … “
What degree of horror can an assize court assume in the name of the manifestation of the truth? This question had already arisen during the Merah trials, in 2017 and 2019: no image of a corpse had ultimately been broadcast at the hearing. During the trial of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the Hypercase, no debate had taken place and the images of the bloody editorial staff of the satirical newspaper, broadcast without warning, had aroused dread. At the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015, the Court had opted for caution, agreeing to broadcast, after consultation with the parties, the least raw images and chosen pieces of the audio recording of the Bataclan killing.
“Reconstitution of Memoirs”
President Raviot, who already seems well advanced in his reflection on the dissemination of these images, nevertheless took care to submit the question to the debates and does not intend to show excessive modesty. “I wondered if I had to make a selection, it seems questionable to me. Why select such a passage? If we diffuse them, it will be the full,” he warned before letting the voice parts.
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