“The criminal hearing is open”, announces in a loud voice the president of the Special Assize Court, Laurent Raviot.
At the Paris courthouse, on this first day of the trial of the Nice attack (Alpes-Maritimes) of July 14, 2016, which caused the death of 86 people, the benches of the large courtroom are rather sparse .
Thirty civil parties crowd in the front rows, scattered among their lawyers.
Others have chosen to isolate themselves on the back benches.
All of them listen attentively to the magistrate calling the accused.
They are eight, seven of whom are present – the last, who fled to Tunisia, where he is imprisoned, will be judged by default.
Most appear free, only three have taken their place in the box.
“I will answer all the questions”, they announce in turn when the president reminds them of their right to silence.
" What is the best ?
asks one, visibly lost.
“Seeing the faces of those judged”
The half-day is devoted to the tedious task of updating the constitution of the civil parties – some 865 had declared themselves during the investigation.
“It will be quite long,” warns President Raviot.
Upstream of this alphabetical litany, two of the three representatives of the national anti-terrorism prosecution (Pnat) take the floor for a preamble on the question of the conditions of admissibility.
“We apologize for the technical aspect of these first observations, out of step with the expectations and the reality of what
(the victims)
are experiencing”, states the first of them with delicacy, recalling the case law.
"Those who must be considered as civil parties do not cover all of those who were in shock", warns the second, by listing the criteria, in particular related to the perimeter of the trajectory of the truck, which the ministry intends to make prevail. audience.
Read alsoTrial of the Nice attack: the 4 minutes and 17 seconds of horror that mourned the National Day
At the exit of the room, Laurence Bray, 42, blue polka dot dress and tattoos dedicated "to the Angels of the Promenade", confides to being "surprised to see so few civil parties present".
"It was important for me to be there at the opening, to see the faces of the people judged," she explains.
Co-president of the Promenade des Anges victims' association, Célia Vialle, who lost her mother during the attack, explains that she is there to "carry her voice" as well as that of her father, an injured survivor who will come to testify at the bar .
She explains that she expects nothing more from the debates than “an opportunity to clarify who did what and when”.
“Our anger is more about the other file, that of the security conditions, where the instruction is not progressing, she slips.
We won't give up.
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