At the specially composed Court of Assizes of Paris,
Applause is heard in the room. “It is not admissible”, thunders the president of the special assize court of Paris, Laurent Raviot. “Justice needs serenity, not to be applauded or vilified. After more than three months of hearing, the magistrate delivered the verdict in the trial of the Nice attack, which killed 86 people on July 14, 2016. All eight defendants were found guilty by the 5 professional magistrates who make up the court.
Three men were being prosecuted for criminal association with terrorism. Ramzi Arefa, a 27-year-old man from Nice who admitted providing a gun to the assailant, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was found guilty of criminal association for a felony or misdemeanor punishable by 10 years in prison and was sentenced to sentence of 12 years in prison. He was the only defendant to incur life imprisonment, because in a situation of recidivism due to a conviction for theft in 2014.
Arms dealers
Mohamed Ghraieb, 47-year-old Franco-Tunisian, and Chokri Chafroud, 43-year-old Tunisian, were both sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The five other defendants were tried for arms trafficking or criminal association, without terrorist qualification. A notorious drug trafficker, Artan Henaj, 44, was convicted of supplying a pistol with five cartridges to Ramzi Arefa, who sold it to the terrorist. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison and is subject to a permanent ban from French territory
Enkeledja Zace was sentenced to 5 years in prison, 2 of which were suspended. Maksim Celaj and Endri Elezi were sentenced to 3 years in prison. Finally, Brahim Tritrou was sentenced in his absence to 2 years in prison.