Nice attack trial: “I feel like it crushed my humanity”
At the courthouse on the Ile de la Cité in Paris, the victims of the July 14 attack in Nice continue to take the stand.
AP - Francois Mori
Text by: Laura Martel
3 mins
Hearings of civil parties are continuing in the trial of the July 14, 2016 attack in Nice.
Among the testimonies, injured victims, those who have lost a loved one, decimated families... And those who came out physically unscathed but have been struggling for six years in the throes of psychological trauma.
This is particularly the case of Isabelle and her daughters Coline and Juliette, who were 10 and 16 years old at the time of the tragedy.
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From our special correspondent at the Paris courthouse
,
This
July 14, 2016,
Isabelle, who will soon return to work, takes her daughters to the fireworks to "
prolong the joy of the holidays
".
But, when she arrives on the beach, she is "
not at ease
", as though overcome by a bad feeling.
On her left, there is “
this very beautiful black woman who dances
”, behind her “
this North African grandmother
” with whom she exchanges “
a knowing glance in view of the antics of the little boy
” who accompanies her;
and yet it is a dark thought that crosses his mind: “
if men come with Kalash, they will make a massacre
.
»
► To read also: Trial of the July 14 attack: "It's as if my heart was bleeding"
As soon as the fireworks are over, Isabelle urges her daughters to leave as soon as possible.
When she sees the truck, she "
understands straight away
": "
because the lights were off and it was going faster and faster even though the 'prom' is not on a slope, you can't pick up speed without accelerating...
"
"
Make sure their shoes allow them to escape
"
Everything happens in a fraction of a second.
“
There was this lady on a bicycle on the left of the truck, a little boy on the right.
These people have become shadows, I have lost a piece of my memory, I don't know what has become of them...
”, says Isabelle.
Her daughter Juliette, who testified after her, knows it, unfortunately: "
I saw a lady on a bicycle being blown up by the truck, a child being hit, the bodies stolen
".
For a long time, Isabelle refused to consider herself a victim “
because you touch your finitude so much that you fall into unfathomable loneliness
”, she explains, before adding: “
I am so happy that my children have survived.. We shouldn't be in pain and yet we're sinking: July 14 never ends, July 14 lasts forever
”.
► To read also:
Trial of the Nice attack: the tragic story of Laura's family
For Isabelle, this means, on a daily basis, "
scanning her daughters' clothes before school to identify them if something is happening
", "
making sure that their shoes allow them to escape
"... But also face "
the silence
" of little Coline, the explosive anger of her teenager.
"
Fear
of everything
"
Juliette, now 22, hides nothing of her inner torments: “
disgust with herself
”, for “
having run away without helping
” and because today “
she is afraid of everything
”.
Her certainty that she will bring misfortune on her loved ones: "
I need them, when they are not there, I suffer, but if we are together, I do not take advantage of it so much I am terrified
".
And then “
hate
”.
Hate towards the driver, but also hatred of herself for having “
thought to help him
”, for the space of a second, when she thought he had no more brakes.
Despite her repeated anxiety attacks and other sequelae that poison her daily life, "
my greatest fear
, concludes Juliette,
is to live with this hatred still deep inside me: because the truck did not kill me, but I feel like he crushed my humanity
.
»
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