Strasbourg Christmas Market Terror Attack Trial Kicks Off

Police forces stand guard next to the Paris criminal court for the beginning of the trial over the terror attack at the Strasbourg Christmas market in December 2018, in Paris, France, 29 February 2024 (EPA)
Police forces stand guard next to the Paris criminal court for the beginning of the trial over the terror attack at the Strasbourg Christmas market in December 2018, in Paris, France, 29 February 2024 (EPA)
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Strasbourg Christmas Market Terror Attack Trial Kicks Off

Police forces stand guard next to the Paris criminal court for the beginning of the trial over the terror attack at the Strasbourg Christmas market in December 2018, in Paris, France, 29 February 2024 (EPA)
Police forces stand guard next to the Paris criminal court for the beginning of the trial over the terror attack at the Strasbourg Christmas market in December 2018, in Paris, France, 29 February 2024 (EPA)

The trial of four men suspected of having played a key role in supplying weapons to the perpetrator of the December 2018 shootings at the Strasbourg Christmas markets began on Thursday.

Five people were killed and 11 others injured after a gunman opened fire near a crowded Christmas market in the eastern French city of Strasbourg. The four men are suspected of having played a key role in supplying weapons to the perpetrator of the December 2018 attack.

Chérif Chekatt, 29, opened fire with a 19th-century revolver on 11 December in the historic centre.

After the attack, he hailed a taxi to the south of the city. After a 48-hour manhunt, he was killed in a shootout with police.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Strasbourg attack via its Amaq news agency. Later, Chekatt pledged allegiance to ISIS in a video found in his apartment.

Chekatt, who was born and raised in the city, attacked passersby with a gun and knife at three different locations in the shadow of the city’s cathedral, where the Christmas market attracts millions of visitors each year.

Chekatt had a long criminal record with more than 20 convictions for theft and violence. He had spent several spells in jail and was on a watchlist of radicalised former prisoners, according to The Guardian.

The trial is due to last until April 5.

Four French men, aged between 34 and 43, are on trial in Paris. Three – Stéphane Bodein and Frédéric Bodein, brothers who buy and sell used cars, and Christian Hoffmann, an unemployed mechanic – are accused of involvement by helping to procure weapons.

Only one of the defendants, Audrey Mondjehi-Kpanhoue, 43, a former security guard who had been a cellmate of Chekatt, is facing terrorism charges and could face life in prison.

A fifth man, aged 84, will not appear for health reasons, and is likely to be tried separately at a later date.

The trial will hear accounts of survivors and the families of those killed, including a father who had fled Afghanistan and was visiting the market with his children, as well as a Thai tourist. Dozens of survivors were left with life-changing injuries and psychological trauma, The Guardian said.

One survivor, now working as a teacher in Paris, said how the attack changed her life forever after two of her friends were shot in front of her.

The woman in her 30s, who asked not to be named, described how she had just handed in her PhD thesis and was working as a student journalist on a radio station at the European parliament in Strasbourg.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.