The Court was more severe than the requisitions by condemning two accused to eighteen years of imprisonment for terrorism. The other six received sentences ranging from two to twelve years in prison for common law offenses.
by soren seelow
The large light wooden hall that has been hosting the trial of the July 14, 2016 attack in Nice since the beginning of September 14, on Tuesday, December 13. The benches of the civil parties, like those reserved for the press, were crowded as rarely since the opening of the debates. At the end of three months of audience, the Assize Court specially composed of Paris returned its verdict. A severe verdict, beyond the requisitions of the public prosecutor, which surprised a number of observers.
In the absence of the terrorist, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, shot dead at the wheel of his truck after killing 86 people on the Promenade des Anglais, eight accused were tried, three of them for association of terrorist criminals. The Court, chaired by Laurent Raviot, confirmed this terrorist qualification for two of them, Mohamed Ghraieb and Chokri Chafroud, sentenced to eighteen years in criminal imprisonment. Their lawyers, who had argued, announced their intention to appeal.
At the statement of these penalties, more severe than the fifteen years in prison required by the prosecution, some civil parties have risen from their bench, tight fists and arms stretched towards the sky, soon accompanied by a salvo applause. “No demonstrations, please, we are in a courtroom, had to recall the president. Justice needs serenity, it does not need to be applauded, either than to be Vilipped. “
” gray areas “
The third accused tried for association of terrorist criminals, Ramzi Arefa, a small trafficker who had provided a pistol to the terrorist, was sentenced to twelve years in prison (the prosecution had requested fifteen) for a tort offense. The Court followed the logic of the public prosecutor, which had asked not to condemn it for acts of terrorism. The other five accused, involved in the supply of the weapon and tried for simple crimes of ordinary law, were sentenced to sentences between two and eight years in prison.
As soon as the declared verdict, several observers of this trial – journalists, researchers, lawyers and even certain lawyers of civil parties – shared their astonishment. Few were those who had anticipated sorrows going beyond the requisitions against Mohamed Ghraieb and Chokri Chafroud, as this trial, marked by the very disturbed personality of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was confusing and difficult to read at the end.
In a short summary of the elements that motivated the court’s decision, President Raviot himself recognized that “gray areas” ended up at the end of the debates: “Neither the judicial information nor the ‘Audience did not enlighten all the gray areas of the file, many essential elements that can be interpreted in one direction or the other, or even oppose each other. However, A-T -It continued, the court has the intimate conviction that Mohamed Ghraieb and Chokri Chafroud were associated with Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel in the realization of his project, by inspiring him, by supporting him morally and materially. “
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