Trial Opens In France Over 2018 Strasbourg Christmas Market Attack

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Feb, 2024) Four men went on trial on Thursday over the 2018 attack in France's eastern city of Strasbourg, where a radical Islamist killed five people before being shot dead by police after a 48-hour manhunt.

The traditional Christmas market was in full swing on December 11 when Cherif Chekatt -- a convicted criminal on the list of possible extremist security risks -- opened fire on revellers, shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Greatest" in Arabic).

The four men on trial in Paris are accused of crimes ranging from terrorism to helping supply weapons, including the 19th-century revolver Chekatt used in the attack.

The trial opened at the Paris court with the suspects confirming their Names.

One suspect, Audrey Mondjehi, faces the maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted on terrorism charges.

The others risk 10 years imprisonment.

The trial, which is due to last until early April, is the latest legal process over the Islamist attacks that have hit France since 2015.

In December 2022, a Paris court convicted all eight suspects in the trial over the 2016 truck attack in the Mediterranean city of Nice, which left 86 dead.

In the most high-profile case, 20 defendants were convicted in June 2022 over their roles in the November 2015 attack in the French capital, when 130 people were killed.

The extremist Islamic State group claimed the Strasbourg attack, but the then French interior minister Christophe Castaner said it had not planned the assault and was just taking credit.

However, a video pledging allegiance to the group was found at the assailant's home.