The trial of Peter Cherif, one of the last al-Qaeda jihadists suspected of having participated in the preparation of the attack which struck Charlie Hebdo January 7, 2015, opens this Monday before the specially composed Paris Assize Court. A member of the terrorist organization in Yemen, he is being referred to the Assize Court for terrorist criminal association.
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Frenchman Peter Cherif is a 42-year-old veteran of jihad and member of Al-Qaeda. He is also one of the last living witnesses to the preparation of the attack on Charlie Hebdo which left 12 dead and 11 injured in 2015. The attack was prepared in Yemen by Al-Qaeda.
We are waiting to understand this type of journey better and better.
Charlie Hebdo’s lawyer, Richard Malka, on expectations related to the trial
Peter Cherif has just arrived at Yemen in spring 2011, recalls our journalist Olivier Chermann. It is he who introduces his childhood friend, one of the Kouachi brothers, future assassin of Charlie Hebdoto Al-Qaeda.
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The challenge of this trial will therefore be to demonstrate whether or not Peter Cherif played a role in organizing the massacre of Charlie Hebdo and to determine its real involvement.
It is a path that has been followed by tens of thousands of young people all over Europe.
Master Richard Malka on the trajectory of Peter Cherif
Peter Cherif is also being referred to the Assize Court for a second charge, organized gang kidnapping of three hostages in connection with a terrorist enterprise and as a repeat offender, between May and November 2011.
Arrested in 2018, he now faces life imprisonment.
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