Five people were killed, and eleven others injured, in just ten minutes at the Strasbourg Christmas market on December 11, 2018. The trial for this attack opened on Thursday, February 29, before the special assize court of Paris, in the absence of the attacker, a radicalized man shot dead after 48 hours of tracking.

In this case, four men, suspected of having played a role, to varying degrees, in supplying weapons to the perpetrator of the shooting, will appear for five weeks before the special assize court, composed solely of of magistrates.

A fifth suspect, who had also been sent for trial by the investigating judges, was finally the subject of a dismissal due to his state of health, incompatible in particular with the duration of the trial.

He could be judged, alone, later, and over a shorter period.

This evening of December 11, 2018, Chérif Chekatt appeared in the heart of the traditional Strasbourg Christmas market and opened fire on passers-by, shouting “Allah Akbar”.

In total, he killed five people and injured eleven others in ten minutes.

He then fled in a taxi.

The driver of the vehicle, Mostafa Salhane, managed to convince the injured assailant to stop to treat him and took advantage of a moment of inattention on the part of the latter to get behind the wheel and rush off towards a nearby police station. .

It thus allowed investigators to identify the murderer, a 29-year-old repeat offender, convicted 20 times in France for common law offenses and on S file for Islamist radicalization.

Hunted for two days, Chérif Chekatt was spotted in the Strasbourg district of Neudorf and killed in an exchange of fire with police officers.

The next day, the attack was claimed by the Islamic State group, an act however considered opportunistic by investigators.

A video of allegiance to ISIS was nevertheless found on a USB key at the attacker's home.

Audrey Mondjehi, main accused

Five men were subsequently indicted in this case for having provided Chérif Chekatt with weapons, including an 1892 model revolver used during the attack.

Ultimately, the investigating judges only retained the terrorist qualification for one of them, Audrey Mondjehi, a former cellmate of Chérif Chekatt.

This 42-year-old defendant, the only one still in pre-trial detention, will be tried for complicity in assassinations and attempted assassinations, particularly against persons holding public authority, all in relation to a terrorist enterprise, as well as for terrorist criminal association.

He faces life imprisonment.

According to the magistrates' order, of which AFP was aware, Audrey Mondjehi played "an indispensable role in providing a weapon" to the assailant by putting him in contact with people who sold him weapons, while he "could not ignore, or even share, all or part of the radical convictions of Chérif Chekatt".

Aged 34, 37 and 39, the three other accused, suspected of having participated in one way or another in the supply of weapons, will have to answer for criminal association with a view to the preparation of one or more crimes.

They face 10 years of imprisonment.

There was no evidence to establish that they had knowledge of the killer's terrorist plan, the anti-terrorism judges ruled.

According to Mostafa Salhane, who became president of the Association of Victims of Attacks, the Guarantee Fund for Victims of Acts of Terrorism recognized 90 direct victims of the acts committed by Chekatt.

With AFP

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