During the Nice attack trial, the two men sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment appealed against the verdict of the special assize court in Paris.
There will therefore be a second trial for the Nice attack, since Chokri Chafroud and Mohamed Ghraieb appealed the verdict on Monday.
After more than three months of hearing, Chokri Chafroud and Mohamed Ghraieb were found guilty on December 13 of terrorist criminal association for their involvement in the ram truck attack which left 86 dead and 450 injured, the July 14, 2016, on the Promenade des Anglais. They were sentenced to 18 years in prison.
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The Court, in its reasons, considered that the seriousness of the acts committed by the two men was quite exceptional. The five professional magistrates noted during the trial an ideological convergence between Mohamed Ghraieb and the assailant, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, author of a terrorist act inspired by jihadist propaganda. The assailant had been killed by the police at the end of his murderous race.
2,000 euros donated to Bouhlel
In private, on social media messaging, Mohamed Ghraieb had expressed support for the perpetrator of the attack. Then, the Court also pointed to the sum of 2,000 euros that the accused had given the day before to Lahouaiej Bouhlel to buy him a car.
According to the Court, Mohamed Ghraieb “ knew that by giving this sum in cash to a radicalized person, who also held a hate speech, supported the perpetrators of attacks and who had provided himself with the logistical means for a violent act, he was contributing to preparation for a terrorist act “.
The magistrates also made Chokri Chafroud a real inspiration for the attack, not in the religious or ideological motives of his action, but in the choice of the operating mode. It was he who suggested to the murderer to use a truck as a weapon.