The trial opened before the special assize court in Paris could contribute to the “reconstruction” of the victims. Many hope so. But for some of them, these four months of hearing, intended to judge eight people suspected of having helped Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, will not be enough. They are also awaiting a second response from the courts on the security system in place on the evening of the July 14, 2016 attack on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. “There is also a search for truth on that side,” explained a lawyer to 20 minutes.
So were there any shortcomings? The question, which has been the subject of judicial information since 2017, has already largely imposed itself over the course of the debates organized in recent weeks. And the new testimonies, this Thursday afternoon, of the current mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi and Philippe Pradal, who was at the time of the facts, will be particularly followed. Their responses are awaited.
Differences with the Euro, four days earlier
In particular on the presence of the heavyweight with which the terrorist made 86 dead and more than 450 wounded. “Why didn’t we intervene on this truck which made nine or eleven different locations, including the same day, in the most watched city in France? How can a truck come in so easily, ”has already asked Philippe Murris, who lost his daughter in the attack at the end of September.
Other civil parties wonder about the difference between the draconian security measures in force at the time of the Euro football, organized until July 10, 2016, and those put in place four days later for the National Day.
The elected officials of the town hall of Nice could again refer the responsibility to the State which had “authorized” the festivities of July 14 and “who arbitrates”, “in fine”, already assured Christian Estrosi in the spring of 2019, questioned then as a witness attended. “If we had asked the city to apply a waterproof system, we would have done it,” he claimed.
“When you see the result, it was too light”
“It was up to the prefectural authority and the city services to provide protection,” said ex-president François Hollande, who was heard at trial on October 10 alongside his former minister of Interior. On security measures, “there has been no relaxation” and “all forces on the ground have been maintained”, they certified.
Bernard Cazeneuve also indicated that 64 national police officers were mobilized on the Promenade des Anglais, 107 for all the events of July 14 in Nice and 197 for the entire district, figures “20% higher than the numbers mobilized the previous year. “.
“When you see the result, of course, it was too light” but the device in place that evening was “usual for July 14”, explained, for her part, Tuesday at the helm, the policewoman who shot the perpetrator of the attack in the cab of his ram truck.
“Endangering others”?
Was the device still “too light” in the context of the time? This is what the judicial investigation “still in progress” since 2017 and “in the hands of two investigating judges” must determine, recalls the public prosecutor of Nice. Solicited by 20 Minutes, Xavier Bonhomme recalls that this second file relates to “the endangerment of others, immediate risk of death or infirmity by manifestly deliberate violation of regulatory, security or caution obligations”.
An offense with several very specific constituent elements. “It is necessary to demonstrate a voluntary behavior of one or more people who, being aware of the risk, do not take the necessary protective measures, knowing that damage could occur and that the probability of its occurrence was high”, says the prosecutor.
After nearly five years of proceedings, no indictment has yet been pronounced and some are worried that the case will end up being closed. In a joint press release published on Wednesday, the League of Human Rights, the Syndicate of Lawyers of France and the Collective Citizen 06 reiterate their request “for a specific trial”. “In order to avoid any local pressure”, they write, these associations even demand the “expatriation of the judicial information in progress” and “that this file is no longer heard in Nice”. The will of the prosecution “is to go to the end of the investigations”, affirms for his part the prosecutor Xavier Bonhomme. In this other file, the number of civil parties “evolves almost every day” but, on Tuesday, 182 constitutions had already been registered, he further specified to 20 minutes.