He walks to the bar of the Paris Special Assize Court with a limp.
Places his tall, long-haired figure at the desk.
Takes a long breath and introduces himself: “I am the victim who tried to stop Chérif Chekatt during his deadly race on December 11, 2018
(in Strasbourg,
in Bas-Rhin
).
As a result, I became disabled.
The last stab I received hit my spinal cord.
» Damien can't lean forward to speak into the microphone.
The usher brings him a chair.
Damien resumes.
At the trial of the Strasbourg attack, on this fourth and final day dedicated to the hearing of the civil parties, the serious voice of this young thirty-year-old stands out.
Interspersed with heavy breathing and silences, as if panting, his story impresses with its dignity.
Words are absent, it will be noted: that of hero;
also that of a terrorist.
“Chérif”, he will often call, by his first name only, the man he managed to disarm of his revolver a short moment before the latter stabbed him around ten times.
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