A city takes legal action – Strasbourg Christmas market attack in court
Published: Thursday, Feb 29th 2024, 15:50
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The terrorist attack during the 2018 Christmas market in the Alsace metropolis of Strasbourg has left a lasting scar. More than five years after the attack that left five dead and eleven injured, the trial of four suspected accomplices of the perpetrator began on Thursday at a jury court in Paris.
The men are said to have helped with the procurement of weapons. Far beyond the dozens of co-plaintiffs directly affected, many hope that the trial will help them come to terms with the horror that has held Strasbourg in its grip long after the evening of the crime.
In a merciless manhunt, the Islamist Chérif Chekatt (29) attacked people with a firearm and a large knife on the evening of December 11, 2018 in the pre-Christmas hustle and bustle in alleyways and squares. Several musicians tried to stop the attacker during his bloody rampage through the city, where sheer panic spread through the streets.
There was an exchange of fire with the military forces deployed to protect the Christmas market. But Chekatt initially managed to escape in a cab. Strasbourg fevered for 49 hours before the assassin was killed in an exchange of fire with officers in the Neudorf district of Strasbourg after a large-scale manhunt in the French-German border area.
The Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia later claimed responsibility for the attack. Chekatt had sworn allegiance to IS in a video. The recording was found on a USB stick in his apartment. The young man with North African roots was known to the authorities as an Islamist threat. He was convicted of a number of thefts in France, Switzerland and Germany. It is not unusual for such a petty criminal to carry out an Islamist attack.
The defendants, who also have a petty criminal background and are all French, face long prison sentences. The main defendant is a friend of the perpetrator who is said to have sold him weapons. The 42-year-old rapper from Strasbourg claims that he thought the perpetrator was a simple criminal and knew nothing about his plans to attack. At the start of the trial, the bald man in a white shirt was the only defendant who had to sit in a secure area behind bulletproof glass.
Also charged are two 37 and 39-year-old brothers from Sélestat and another 34-year-old man from Haguenau, who are said to have arranged and brokered the purchase of the murder weapon on the day of the attack. According to the prosecution, however, they knew nothing about the plans for the attack. These three defendants are at large under judicial supervision, but have been in custody for some time.
Relatives of the victims were among the co-plaintiffs who came to the Paris Palace of Justice on Thursday. Shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great"), the perpetrator attacked them, including a Frenchman who was waiting for his family outside a restaurant, a tourist from Thailand and a war refugee from Afghanistan who was shot in front of his family.
In addition to the victims who were killed and injured, a large number of direct eyewitnesses were also severely traumatized. Around 1000 people sought psychological help after the attack, and many are still receiving treatment. At the start of the trial, the court also addressed the perhaps somewhat technical, but for many of those affected, important distinction as to who can be recognized as a joint plaintiff.
"I assure the victims of this tragedy, which has scarred our city forever, of my full support," said Strasbourg Mayor Jeanne Barseghian on Thursday morning. "This process is a fundamental step on the road to recovery for the victims." The attack in Strasbourg was one of a series of Islamist terrorist attacks that have shaken France in recent years and in which around 250 people have lost their lives. France as a nation has been deeply traumatized as a result.
"Behind each of the French cities ravaged by the arbitrariness of Islamist violence, there are stolen lives, broken hearts, traumatized existences and inconsolable souls that we must not overlook due to the return of these "great trials"," wrote journalist Hélène David in the editorial of the Strasbourg newspaper "Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace" on Thursday. "On December 11, 2018, Strasbourg joined the litany of mourning cities and the images of its familiar streets, now stained with blood, were imprinted on the retinas of its inhabitants."
©Keystone/SDA
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