More than five years after the events, the trial for the attack on the Strasbourg Christmas market opens this Thursday, February 29, 2024 before the special assize court in Paris. An essential step for Mostafa Salhane, the taxi driver taken hostage by the terrorist and whose life was turned upside down that day.
Tall and robust, Mostafa Salhane, black belt in karate, stands out with his build. However, it is as a broken man that he will testify at the trial of the Strasbourg attack which opens this Thursday.
“ There is a Mostafa Salhane before and a Mostafa Salhane after the attack »
The life of this former taxi driver was indeed turned upside down on December 11, 2018. That evening, Mostafa Salhane had just finished a trip in the historic center of Strasbourg when an agitated man got into his taxi.
“ He tells me : “Hurry up and take me to the Neudorf district.“I see that he is sweating, that he is not well, he is looking in all directions. We go 200 meters and there, he gives me the hot potato by saying to me : “I just killed ten people, I shot at soldiers and I’m injured.“There, he points the gun at my ribs and says to me : “If you act smart, I’ll turn you on.“And I understand that I’m trapped “, he says.
The terrorist makes him head to the police station. The taxi driver then understands that he wants to go kill police officers and prepares to die, because he has decided to rush his vehicle into the river located near the police station to put an end to the murderous rampage. But the terrorist, injured, is suddenly overcome by pain. Mostafa Salhane then convinces him to let him stop so that he can treat him. And in a moment of inattention on the part of the terrorist, he managed to escape with his vehicle. He goes to the police station to give the description which will identify the terrorist as Cherif Chekatt. The latter will be killed 48 hours later.
Descent into hell
But for Mostafa Salhane, this is only the beginning of a long descent into hell. “ I wasn’t hurt physically, but psychologically “, he said. First suffering from post-traumatic stress, the fifty-year-old then sank into depression. On sick leave for five years, this father has seen his whole life collapse. “ I no longer work, I have my children who left home because they could no longer understand me, I divorced my wife, I lost my house », he continues.
What saved him was traveling, but also painting and writing. During the trial which is due to last five weeks, Mostafa Salhane awaits explanations from the four accused. But above all it is an essential step to rebuild himself, like the other victims. “ It is the words of the victims that count: what we really feel, the evil we have within us. Listening to people’s pain, everyone fears, but justice needs to know to recognize the victims “, he said.
This trial is all the more awaited by Mostafa Salhane as he feels, like other victims of the Strasbourg attack, of having been forgotten since no national tribute has ever been paid to them.