The national antiterrorist prosecutor's office (Pnat) announced Tuesday in a press release that it had asked for the referral of nine people to the specially composed Paris Assize Court, responsible for terrorism, in the investigation into the Nice attack.
On July 14, 2016, evening of crowds and fireworks on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian, mowed down at the wheel of a rental truck 86 lives, children, families numerous and foreign tourists, in 4 minutes, before being shot down by the police. This eventual trial, on which the final decision now rests with the counter-terrorism investigating judges, therefore does not concern him.
The main issue will therefore be whether the respondents were aware of the assailant's macabre plan, but all of them deny having been aware of it, and the investigation has not provided any formal proof to the contrary.
No prosecution for "complicity in assassinations"?
For the three main suspects, Mohamed G., Ramzi A. and Chokri C., the Pnat demands the abandonment of the prosecution for "complicity in assassinations": it wants them to be tried only, with a fourth, Hamdi Z. , for "criminal terrorist criminal association".
The examining magistrates gathered evidence establishing that the first three were either mounted in the rental truck, or had been informed of the rental projects, or were concerned by an SMS and a voice message from Lahouaiej-Bouhlel dating from the evening of the attack evoking a supply of weapons.
The Pnat also requests the referral to the special assize court of five other suspects, Artan H., Enkeledja Z., Maksim C., Brahim T. and Endri E. for the supply of the weapon to Mohamed Lahaoueij-Bouhlel. Four of them had been charged with terrorist offenses, but the prosecution "considers that [they] did not know the destination of the weapon they are accused of having supplied" to the perpetrator of the attack. According to the prosecution, the facts must be reclassified in ordinary law concerning them.
Four suspects are currently under judicial supervision, four others are in pre-trial detention, while a ninth, Endri E., is the subject of an arrest warrant. A tenth respondent committed suicide in prison.
A "crucial step"
Multiple steps to hire the truck, locations on the pedestrian part of the "Prom" in order to multiply the victims: the elements of the investigation support the premeditated nature of the attack on the Promenade des Anglais, but its motive remains uncertain.
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The author had certainly manifested recent signs, before the attack, of religiosity and even of attraction for radical Islamism. But Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was unknown to the information and the investigators did not find any act of allegiance to the jihadist organization Islamic State or evidence of any involvement of the group.
"The Pnat fails to assume its responsibilities when a dismissal is necessary," deplored the lawyers of Mohamed G., My William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, while the investigation "demonstrated in a certain way the total lack of knowledge by our client of Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's intentions ”.
“It is a step in a complex file but it is a crucial step. The Pnat has carried out a case-by-case analysis of the role of each of the 9 accused and this is always a sign of good justice. We are now awaiting the final order from the examining magistrates and we hope for a trial in 2021, ”responded Mr. Eric Morain, lawyer for Fenvac, the main association of victims.
