A trial at the assizes was ordered against three men, two of whom were on file for Islamist radicalization, accused of having taken part in an attempted attack on gas cylinders in the fall of 2017 in Paris, according to a judicial source, confirming information of the
Parisian
.
On the night of September 29 to 30, 2017, a resident of a building in the 16th arrondissement gave the alert after discovering on the ground floor, between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., four gas cylinders surmounted by a electric ignition by telephone, around which had been poured a lot of gasoline.
For some reason, three calls failed to trigger the device.
Two days later, three suspects were arrested before being indicted and imprisoned: Amine A., Sami B. and Aymen B.
Read also: Aborted bomb attack in 2017 in Paris: trial required against the three suspects
In a recent order, the investigating judge in charge of the case decided to send back to the assizes two of the suspects for "attempted murder" and "attempted destruction by means dangerous to persons" in connection with a terrorist enterprise, and a third for "complicity" in these two offenses, according to the judicial source.
The three are also sent back to the assizes for "criminal terrorist association".
According to a source familiar with the matter, the first two dismissed in particular for "attempted murder" are Sami B. and Aymen B., the third for "complicity" is Amine A.
Two have appealed the removal order, according to the judicial source.
A fourth person is also sent to trial, for a theft related to the case.
The national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office (Pnat) had requested in early November that the three main defendants all be tried for "attempted murder".
Sami B.'s lawyer, Me Daphne Pugliese told AFP that she would appeal this order because her client "has always maintained that he is perfectly innocent of the facts with which he is accused".
Why was this building on a small street in this affluent district of the capital targeted?
"It is the big question which remains in the file
", underlined a source close after three years of investigation.