Opening of the appeal trial of the Trèbes and Carcassonne attacks
Two accused linked to the 2018 attacks, which left four dead including gendarme Arnaud Beltrame, appear before the special assize court in Paris.
Quick Look
- Opening in Paris of the appeal trial of two relatives of the attacker of the Trèbes and Carcassonne attacks of 2018.
- The anti-terrorism prosecution had appealed the first instance convictions, deemed too lenient.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The attacks in Trèbes and Carcassonne took place on March 23, 2018, perpetrated by Radouane Lakdim and claimed by the Islamic State organization.
The appeal trial of two defendants linked to the attacks in Trèbes and Carcassonne (Aude) in 2018, which left four dead including gendarme Arnaud Beltrame, opened Monday before the specially constituted Paris Assize Court.
Marine Pequignot, the radicalized girlfriend of Radouane Lakdim who killed four people on March 23, 2018 before being shot dead during the assault by the police, appears alongside Samir Manaa, who had accompanied the assailant to buy the knife that fatally injured Arnaud Beltrame.
These attacks were claimed by the Islamic State organization. The appeal trial takes place before a “special” court, competent in matters of terrorism and composed exclusively of professional magistrates, without popular jurors. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office (Pnat) appealed the convictions of Marine Pequignot and Samir Manaa, deemed too lenient at first instance, in the winter of 2024.
The young woman, now aged 26 and who presents herself as a “professional integration advisor”, had received five years of imprisonment, two of which were suspended, and was found guilty of terrorist conspiracy. Samir Manaa, 32, was sentenced to three years in prison for related offenses. But he was acquitted of terrorist criminal association, along with three others of the five accused.
The president of the Assize Court had at the time recalled, when reading his decision, that this offense “still involves material acts in support, at the very least, of a terrorist project: if there is none, even in the event of complacency, we cannot retain (it)”. The two accused appear free, while the appeal trial must be held until October 9.
A third accused, Baghdad H., the friend who had not denounced the assailant according to the prosecution, had also appealed against his sentence of three years in prison, two of which were suspended, but did not appear in court on Monday morning: he had in the meantime been deported to Morocco after the withdrawal of his residence permit in France, and has not been able to be located since.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The appeal trial verdict will be delivered by October 9.
Very likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What sentences will be handed down at the end of this appeal trial?
- Where exactly is Baghdad H. located in Morocco?
