New developments in the investigation into the terrorist attack at the Strasbourg Christmas market on December 11, 2018. The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) has requested the referral to the Paris Special Assize Court of five men, not retaining terrorist qualifications only for one of them, according to judicial sources close to the file on Thursday: Audrey Mondjehi.
The Pnat requires against the latter the dismissal for association of terrorist criminals and complicity in assassinations and complicity in attempted assassinations, in particular on persons holding public authority, all in relation to a terrorist enterprise. Audrey Mondjehi, of Ivorian nationality, was imprisoned in this case in December 2018 and is still in pre-trial detention. He is suspected of having assisted Cherif Chekatt in his efforts, in particular by allowing him to obtain the weapon used during the attack.
The terrorist qualification for the others not retained
The other four suspects, aged 32, 36, 37 and 82, are under judicial control. The Pnat requires their referral to the special assize court only for criminal association for the preparation of one or more crimes, but without retaining the terrorist qualification, according to a judicial source. They are suspected, to varying degrees, of having allowed the supply of the weapon used in the attack. Three of these people come from the same sedentary Traveler community. None belong to the Islamist sphere and all affirmed during the investigation that they had no knowledge of Chérif Chekatt’s project. Respondents and civil parties can still provide observations to the investigating judges, who are responsible for the final decision on the holding of a trial and on the charges.
On December 11, 2018, Chérif Chekatt, a 29-year-old repeat offender, on file S for Islamist radicalization, entered the historic center of Strasbourg, where the Christmas market was held, armed with a revolver and a knife. He had randomly killed five men while wandering the streets and injured ten others. Managing to escape by taxi, after being injured by soldiers, he was killed by the police forty-eight hours later in the Neudorf district, in the south of Strasbourg. A video of allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group was then found on a USB key that belonged to him.