Four people sent back to the assizes as part of the investigation into the police officer killed on the Champs-Elysées in 2017. -

NICOLAS MESSYASZ / SIPA

Four people are referred to the special assize court in Paris, for their role in providing an assault rifle to the jihadist who killed the policeman Xavier Jugelé on the Champs-Elysées on April 20, 2017, a-t- we learned Wednesday from a judicial source.

The anti-terrorism investigating judges ordered on October 12 the referral to the assizes of Nourredine A., 30, for "criminal terrorist association".

On the other hand, they abandoned this qualification for the other three defendants, sent back only "for infringement of the legislation on weapons", according to the same source, in accordance with the requisitions of the national anti-terrorism prosecution.

In pre-trial detention for more than three years

Three of the suspects have been in pre-trial detention for more than three years.

The fourth was placed under judicial control, said the same source.

Three days before the first round of the 2017 presidential election, Karim Cheurfi, a 39-year-old Frenchman with a heavy judicial background, attacked a police bus on the famous avenue, shooting Xavier Jugelé and injuring two other police officers, before to be shot.

No signs of Islamist radicalization in prison

Karim Cheurfi, already convicted of attempted murders of police officers, did not show signs of Islamist radicalization in prison.

A handwritten message defending the cause of Daesh had however been found on a paper near his body.

Daesh quickly claimed responsibility for the attack on one of the capital's most touristic arteries.

But the jihadist organization had probably made a mistake in claiming, hastily giving an identity of the killer, "Abu Yussef the Belgian", who does not correspond to Karim Cheurfi.

Their DNA on the rifle

Nourredine A., was initially indicted for "complicity" in the attack in June 2017, suspected of having bought Karim Cheurfi's motorcycle against the rifle, according to a source close to the investigation at the time.

Among the three others, Yanis A., 28, and his childhood friend Mederick M., 26, had been arrested in the weeks following the attack, their DNA having been found on the rifle.

The lawyer for Mr. Jugelé's husband did not wish to react.

This solitary attack was part of the wave of unprecedented jihadist attacks that have hit France since January 2015, killing a total of 260 people, sponsored by Daesh or inspired by its calls to target, in particular, police officers or soldiers.

The degradation of the commemorative plaque dedicated to Xavier Jugelé in 2019, the day after an outbreak of violence during act 18 of the “yellow vests”, had aroused great emotion.

Justice

Policeman killed on the Champs-Elysées: The anti-terrorism prosecution requests a trial for four suspects

Society

Xavier Jugelé degraded plaque: "It's like desecrating a monument to the dead"

  • Investigation

  • Assize court

  • Champs-Élysées

  • Assassination

  • Justice

  • Police officer