AFP extension
ANNOUNCEMENTS•
The French court convicted eight people of involvement in the Nice attack in 2016. They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 2 to 18 years.
On July 14, 2016, a crowd was on the boulevard in Nice watching a fireworks display in honor of France’s National Day when a truck crashed into the crowd. 86 people were killed and 450 people were injured.
The driver of the truck, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was killed by police at the scene. The IS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack, but no evidence of a direct link between Bouhlel and IS has ever been found.
Seven men and one woman were sentenced today for providing varying degrees of assistance to the driver. Two men who had close ties to Bouhlel were sentenced to 18 years in prison for involvement in a terrorist organization. The lawyer of one of the two said that he will appeal against the sentence.
A third person was sentenced to 12 years in prison for supplying Bouhlel with a weapon. Since it could not be proved that she knew what Bouhlel intended to use this weapon for, her sentence is reduced. The other convicts risk 2 to 8 years in prison.
“A Small Victory”
A sentimental process that lasted over three months ended with the sentence. Several survivors and relatives of the attack described in court the horrors they witnessed that evening and how it impacted their lives.
Several survivors of the attack are satisfied. “I won’t get my family, my mother and my son back, but it feels like a small victory,” Caroline Villani told the AP news agency. “I am delighted that the two main suspects have been sentenced to 18 years in prison,” said another. “Even if it doesn’t top what we’ve been through.”
