Trial of those who allegedly aided the 2016 Bastille Day attack that killed 86 with a truck begins in Paris terrorism court
Islamic State claimed responsibility a few days after the massacre, but offered no proof that the attacker had direct contact with the group.(Reuters: Eric Gaillard)
Six years after a truck drove into a celebrating crowd on France's national holiday, Bastille Day, the trial of those who allegedly assisted begins in the Paris terrorism court.
Key points:
In 2016, 86 people were killed 86 and more than 400 were injured when a truck was driven into a Bastille Day crowd in the French city of Nice
Seven men and one women are now facing court, accused of helping the driver of the truck
The defendants are facing jail sentences of between five years and life
The terror attack killed 86 people, including 15 children and teenagers, while injuring more than 400 others, all of whom had gathered on the waterfront in the French city of Nice to watch a fireworks display.
Seven men and one woman are now on trial over the deadly truck rampage, accused of helping the driver.
Attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was shot dead by police on the spot after causing devastation and chaos along a stretch of about 2 kilometres on Nice's seaside boulevard.
A map showing the route of the truck attack in Nice on Bastille Day in 2016(Google Maps/Tim Leslie)
Prosecutors say the defendants — who face sentences of between five years and life — helped Tunisian-born Lahouaiej Bouhlel get weapons, rent the truck or survey the route he took for the attack. (In France, life imprisonment is a punishment of indeterminate length and may last for the remainder of the convict's life.)
"It's a difficult moment. It's very complicated," Anne Murris — who lost her daughter in the attack — said as she arrived at the court.
"This sends me back six years ago, when I was looking for my daughter [after the attack] … a lot of sadness, also feelings of fear."
None of the defendants is accused of taking part in the attack or even of being complicit, a fact survivors said they were struggling with.
The lack of high-profile defendants — together with the reality that there remain question marks over the attacker's motives — mean the Nice trial is quite different from the past months' trial into the Islamist attacks that killed 130 in Paris in 2015.
Islamic State claimed responsibility a few days after the Nice massacre, but offered no proof that the attacker, who had a record of domestic
contact with the group.
There are serious doubts over whether this was an opportunistic claim of responsibility, and the prosecutors' office said that was one of the points the trial would aim to clarify.
They could not say whether the defendants would plead guilty or deny any wrongdoing.
No interest in religion
Lahouaiej Bouhlel had been described by neighbours as a "frightening" man with a tense personality.
Months before his rampage he had been handed a six-month suspended sentence for hurling a wooden pallet at another driver in a road-rage incident.
French media reported accounts by his wife of severe domestic violence by a husband who beat her, raped her and threatened to kill her and their children if she left him.
Lahouaiej Bouhlel drank alcohol, ate pork and showed no interest in religion, they quoted his wife as telling investigators after the attack.
The attacker was shot dead by police on the spot after causing devastation and chaos on Nice's seaside boulevard. (Reuters: Eric Gaillard)
He started looking up Islamist content online weeks before the attack, Le Monde wrote.
Three of the accused, close friends of the attacker, are accused of participation in a terrorist criminal association for helping him obtain weapons and the truck.
Two of those face 20 years in jail, while one faces a life sentence.
The five other defendants are accused of helping indirectly through arms trafficking and face shorter sentences. One of that group will be tried in absentia.
"Some people are hoping the trial will help them move forward," said Jean-Claude Hubler, who chairs the Life for Nice Victims' Association.
A memorial with pictures of the victims and "In Memory of our Angels" engraved on the wall along Nice's Promenade des Anglais, where the attack took place.(AP: Daniel Cole)
"Some are so angry that, for them, the trial will not lead to anything significant — we know that the terrorist is dead."
Mr Hubler said he and a number of other victims were more interested in seeing whether officials will, separately from this trial, face sanctions for what he said was a lack of security to protect the Bastille Day celebrations.
The trial verdict is expected in December.