Trial of the Nice attack: the defense of Chokri Chafroud denies his involvement one last time
At the courthouse on the Ile de la Cité in Paris, this Friday, December 9 was devoted to the pleadings of the lawyers of Chokri Chafroud.
AP - Francois Mori
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
For the last pleadings of the defense at the trial of the Nice attack, the court heard this Friday, December 9 the advice of Chokri Chafroud, friend of the killer of the Promenade des Anglais.
If the prosecution requested 15 years, his lawyers pleaded acquittal due to the "
emptiness
" of the file.
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With our special correspondent at the Paris courthouse,
Laura Martel
Against this 43-year-old Tunisian, friend of the killer of the Promenade des Anglais, the prosecution requested 15 years in prison for terrorist criminal association.
His lawyers pleaded acquittal.
Like a two-voiced cannon, their tone differs, but the message is the same: “
We must acquit
Chokri Chafroud
”.
With ardor and conviction, his lawyers are busy demonstrating what they consider to be the void in the file.
From a possible search for a weapon, which nothing supports, to this passage on the Promenade des Anglais aboard the truck, which the investigators themselves say that "it was
not a location
" recall the advice.
As for these rude and violent messages exchanged with the future killer, in which Chokri Chafroud mentions a truck several times, “
these are not operational messages.
Nowhere does it say to kill people
” is offended Me Arnou.
The lawyers do not exclude that these mentions of trucks "had
an echo
" in the mind of
Lahouaiej Boulhel
.
“
Chokri has been in detention for 6 years
”
But should Chorki Chafroud “
be a diviner of a radicalization that we are not even sure of and that the other members of the entourage have not seen either?
“, protests Me Arnou.
The two councils believe that the killer was "
crazy
", but "
it's only an opinion
", points out Me François-Jacquemin.
And “
this is not why we are asking for an acquittal
”, but because “
Chokri has been in detention for 6 years, because the other wrote something wrong!
»
Because, at the heart of the investigation, recalls the lawyer, there is this SMS sent at 10:27 p.m. on July 14.
The killer asks for five pistols for "Chokri and his friends" and specifies: "
They are ready for next month
".
“
We believed in another attack, but we investigated.
There is no planned attack, there is no "
Chokri and his friends
", it is false!
“, insists Me François Jacquemin.
And his colleague to conclude: “
Here is the accusation: when you take off the blinders, it falls.
There is no question that Chokri Chafroud is the expiatory victim of this trial.
He did not do anything.
After the last words of the defendants on Monday, the verdict is expected on Tuesday, December 13.
►Also read: At the trial of the Nice attack, the floor for the defense
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