Almost eight years after the terrorist attack in Nice that left 86 people dead, the appeal trial of two suspected accomplices of the perpetrator begins on Monday in Paris.
The two men were sentenced to 18 years in prison in December 2022. They are alleged to have provided moral and material support to the assassin.
The trial is scheduled to last until mid-June.
On July 14, 2016, the French national holiday, the Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a lorry weighing several tons into a crowd of people on the Promenade des Anglais seaside walkway in Nice. He also shot at people.
In the end, 86 people died and more than 200 were injured. The perpetrator was shot dead after the attack. Among the victims in Nice were two schoolgirls and a teacher from Berlin.
The terrorist militia Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to the court judgement in 2022, this alleged confession was opportunistic despite the perpetrator's interest in jihadism. While a direct link to a terrorist organization was not determined, the suspect was clearly inspired by jihadism.