• Three weeks after the conviction of the eight defendants of the Nice attack which killed 86 people, the special assize court opened the civil hearing which allows to rule on the admissibility of these constitutions of civil parties.

  • Of the 2,542 people identified in mid-December, the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office disputes the admissibility of 224 of them and requests supporting documents for 369 others before deciding.

  • “That does not mean that the people in question were not harmed.

    But we consider that their damage is not directly linked” with the terrorist act, explained the Advocate General at the opening of the proceedings.

At the helm of the large trial room of the Paris courthouse, Me Frédéric Bibal takes on the case of one of his clients.

Psychological victim, "by ricochet", of the Nice attack but who was not in the direct vicinity of the ram truck on the evening of July 14, 2016, the latter sees, like others, her status as a civil party challenged by the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office (Pnat).

Because she “was not within the chosen perimeter”.

“I am convinced that beyond the zone of physical danger, there was also that of an unbearable dread, which hurts on a psychic level”, supports the lawyer.

Who can be considered a victim of the attack?

This is the question that justice will have to answer.

This Tuesday, three weeks after the conviction of the eight defendants of the attack which killed 86 people on the Promenade des Anglais, the special assize court opened the civil hearing which makes it possible to rule on the admissibility of these constitutions of parties civil.

Symbolic recognitions, which can contribute to the process of reconstruction, they also open the way to possible compensation.

When the "damage is not directly related"

But some may not work.

Of the 2,542 people identified in mid-December, the Pnat disputes the admissibility of 224 of them and requests supporting documents for 369 others before deciding.

If the civil party status of bereaved families or physically injured people is not debated, the prosecution wishes to exclude people who were on the beach or in the adjacent streets.

“That does not mean that the people in question were not harmed.

But we consider that their damage is not directly linked” with the terrorist act, explained the Advocate General at the opening of the proceedings.

“The situation is more complex than what we imagined at the start”, however admitted Jean-Michel Bourlès, explaining that “a wider geographical perimeter” than that initially envisaged had been stopped.

People present on the embankment of the Promenade des Anglais or even "in the path" of the truck after it has come to a stop can then be detained.

This will be the case for those "who were as far as the Le Méridien hotel [i.e. a little less than 300 m after the place where the heavy goods vehicle was stopped], who were able to see it moving forward and who were therefore able to consider that they would be struck, ”detailed the magistrate.

psychic suffering

The first responders who arrived after the truck had been permanently immobilized should, on the other hand, be dismissed, according to the Pnat, which notably requested the inadmissibility of Dr. Daniel Navarro.

First doctor on site because he was responsible for managing the advanced medical post installed at the request of the city of Nice this evening of fireworks, this 57-year-old emergency doctor was posted at the Théâtre de Verdure.

therefore outside the scope.

For him, however, the sequelae are lasting and would have led in particular to an ophthalmic disease and family disorders.

Six years later, the "traumatic images" still keep him "in a state of post-traumatic stress", as he told

20 Minutes

at the end of last year.

Our file on the Nice attack

“When he decides to join, running, the first victims to help them, he goes there at the risk of his life, in defiance of his life.

He does not know if the offense is still in progress, ”pleaded his counsel.

But the prosecution was inflexible and demanded the inadmissibility of his request for civil action.

As for other individuals whose lawyers came to remind the bar of psychological suffering.

More difficulties to “rebuild”

If their request is not validated, these people will not be able to claim any compensation before the Jurisdiction for Compensation of Victims of Acts of Terrorism (Jivat).

They would also be exposed to other difficulties, pleaded their lawyers.

“An unrecognized victim will find it more difficult to rebuild, notably assured Me Olivia Chalus-Penochet.

Not being recognized as a victim means not being repaired”.

In any case, it will be up to the specially composed Assize Court of Paris to decide at the end of this hearing, which is to continue on Thursday.

His decision is not expected for "a few months", said President Laurent Raviot.

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  • July 14 attack in Nice

  • Victim

  • Hearing