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Strasbourg on December 12, 2018: Police forces secured an entrance to the old town after an attack at the Christmas market

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Christoph Schmidt / dpa

More than five years after the attack on the Strasbourg Christmas market that left five dead, a court in Paris sentenced one of the perpetrators' aides to a 30-year prison sentence. 42-year-old Audrey Mondjehi was found guilty of a "terrorist organization" because of his "close proximity" to the perpetrator who was shot by the police.

“He knew about the strong radicalization (of the perpetrator),” says the reasons for the verdict published on Thursday. According to investigators, Mondjehi was “involved in all phases of preparation and execution.”

Mondjehi admitted in court that he had served as a middleman in the purchase of weapons. However, he did not know what the perpetrator Cherif Chekatt intended to do with it. "I will regret what happened for the rest of my life," he said in court.

Cherif Chekatt was armed with a Lebel revolver and a kitchen knife at the time of the attack. His victims included two young journalists from Italy and Poland, an Afghan-French father of three small children, a Strasbourg pensioner and a Thai tourist.

The perpetrator initially fled in a taxi. The police found him two days after the crime. He was shot during a shootout with police.

The 29-year-old perpetrator had already been convicted of common crimes several times before the attack and was listed as an Islamist in the list of dangerous offenders. He left a video in which he swore loyalty to the jihadist militia “Islamic State” (IS). The organization then claimed responsibility for the attack.

In addition to Mondjehi, three other men were charged. Two of them were sentenced to four and five years in prison respectively. They had been involved to a lesser extent in the procurement of weapons. A fourth defendant was acquitted. An 83-year-old suspected arms dealer will not appear in court until later due to health problems.

The attack left deep scars in Strasbourg. The Christmas market, which is also popular with foreign tourists, has been heavily secured since then.

spr/AFP