Five years later, Nice commemorates the attack on the Promenade des Anglais
The photos of the 86 victims were deposited at the memorial of the Nice attack, in the gardens of the Villa Massena.
AFP - NICOLAS TUCAT
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
In the presence of Prime Minister Jean Castex, Nice commemorated this Wednesday July 14 the five years of the attack which left 86 dead on the Promenade des Anglais.
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White roses and 86 doves soaring into the sky in memory of the lives cut short. Some 400 people, mostly victims and families of victims, gathered on Wednesday in the gardens of Villa Massena, a few steps from the Promenade des Anglais.
It is on this famous seafront that, on July 14, 2016,
a jihadist attack
had transformed "
a hot, happy and festive evening
" into "
chaos
", "
hell
", recalled Stéphane Erbs, co-president of the association. Promenade des Anges. That evening,
Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel
, a Tunisian in his thirties living in Nice, had driven at the wheel of a 19-ton truck in the midst of the 30,000 people gathered for the fireworks, mowing down dozens people within two minutes, before the police shot him down. The attack was claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State, although the investigation did not confirm any connection between thejihadist organization and its author.
“
The terrorist wanted to sully one of the symbolic dates in the history of our nation (...), our national holiday, this July 14, which is summed up in the motto of our Republic, liberty, equality, fraternity.
Three words which form a bulwark against fanaticism
”, declared Prime Minister Jean Castex, present at this tribute with several ministers.
Through the Nice attack, it is "
the freedom to come and go (...), a certain form of civilization that has been targeted
", he added, reaffirming the will of the Republic of never "
give in to barbarism (...) on all grounds
".
An impossible mourning
The photos of the 86 people killed, of all ages and nationalities, were placed in front of the plexiglass heart which serves as a memorial in the gardens of Villa Massena.
Their names were read during the ceremony, accompanied by a piece of music played on the harp.
For many relatives of victims, it is still impossible to grieve.
Several parents were only able to recover the organs taken from their children for autopsy and sealed by justice last year.
Some dispute its authenticity and have seized the Defender of Rights after the refusal of a DNA analysis.
In addition to the 86 victims killed and 206 victims physically injured, a total of 1,683 people are considered to be psychically injured in the attack. The children “
lived what nobody is prepared to live,
” recalled Hager ben Aouissi, co-president of the association Life for Nice, while 300 children are still followed at the Lenval hospital in Nice for the psychotrauma suffered. “
Five years later, it's still there, in memory, in nightmares, in a police siren.
"
Many victims await the trial, "
difficult, but necessary step
", recalled Stéphane Erbs, hoping that justice "
punishes with firmness
".
The trial of the eight people
suspected of helping Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel
will be held in Paris from September 5 to November 15, 2022.
If the civil parties (more than 850) and their lawyers welcomed this referral to the assizes, they deplore however that two of the defendants, prosecuted for common law offenses, were released in November following a procedural defect. .
Several victims also regretted the slowness of the investigation conducted in Nice for “unintentional homicides and injuries” on the security system deployed that evening, co-piloted by the prefecture and the town hall.
(
With
AFP)
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France
Terrorism
Jean Castex