Suspects in Bastille Day attack trial deny terrorist ties
Suspects in Bastille Day attack trial deny terrorist ties
By NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY
PARIS (AP) — The defendants on trial for the 2016 Bastille Day truck attack in Nice that killed 86 people denied any links to terrorism and told the court Tuesday that they had been trapped or fooled by the driver at fault for the massacre.
The driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, was killed by police after the attack on the Mediterranean city’s storied beachfront, where 25,000 people had gathered to celebrate France’s national holiday.
The eight people who went on trial in Paris this week are accused of helping him, though investigators didn’t find evidence that they were directly involved in the carnage.
While the Islamic State group claimed responsibility and Bouhlel had been inspired by its propaganda, investigators found no evidence that IS orchestrated the attack.
The suspects on trial, in their opening testimony Tuesday, sought to distance themselves from the attacker and any extremist ideas.
“I saw nothing coming and I found myself caught in the gears,” said Mohamed Ghraieb, charged with association with a terrorist criminal. “It was a scumbag who did this. Terrorism frightens me.”
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, was perceived by his family as a violent person, but not religious. He ate pork and drank alcohol. Ghraieb and other defendants said they didn’t notice his radicalization, which investigators said developed in the space of just a few weeks before the attack.