Almost eight years after the terrorist attack in the French Mediterranean city of Nice that left 86 people dead, the appeal trial of two suspected accomplices of the perpetrator began 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 attacker. According to prosecutors, they knew about the man's mindset and that he was capable of committing an attack. They are also said to have been involved in the search for a weapon.
The trial is scheduled to last until mid-June.
On July 14, 2016, the French national holiday of Bastille Day, 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.
The terrorist militia Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the court judgement in 2022, this claim was appears to have been opportunistic, even though the perpetrator's interest in jihadism was established.