A Tunisian man was on trial Monday for allegedly stabbing three people to death at a Nice church in southern France in 2020, but the victims’ relatives were incensed by his insistence that he had no memory of the incident.
The 25-year-old Brahim Aouissaoui is on trial in a Paris special court and could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty. Since 2015, several violent occurrences in France have been attributed to Muslim radicals, including the homicidal rampage on October 29, 2020.
As the trial began, Aouissaoui, with his long hair combed back and his short beard, verified his identification while speaking via an interpreter in Arabic.
He told the court, “I don’t remember the facts,” and said he had no memory of the incident. I don’t recall anything, so I have nothing to say.”
From the court benches designated for the victims’ families and their solicitors, there was a howl of anger and desperation.
A man who yelled obscenities at Aouissaoui was ordered to leave by presiding judge Christophe Petiteau.
Additionally, Aouissaoui has stated that he is unaware of his lawyer’s identity.
Martin Mechin, his attorney, told reporters outside the court, “When I talk to him, I have the impression—but again, I’m not a doctor or an expert—that he doesn’t understand the issues of this trial, that he doesn’t understand the stakes of this case.”
‘Very exaggerated’
With a kitchen knife, Aouissaoui nearly beheaded 60-year-old worshipper, Nadine Vincent, stabbed 44-year-old Franco-Brazilian mother Simone Barreto Silva 24 times, and cut the neck of 55-year-old sacristan Vincent Loques, a father of two girls, according to the prosecution.
Aouissaoui has consistently maintained that he has no recollection of the attack despite being gravely hurt by police.
His medical test, however, showed no signs of brain injury, and a psychological evaluation found that his judgement was unimpaired at the time of the incident.
Additionally, the prosecution claims that his phone chats while incarcerated demonstrate “that his alleged amnesia was at the very least very exaggerated.”
Philippe Soussi, a lawyer for one victim’s husband and a member of the French Association of Victims of Terrorism (AFVT), said that the accused’s “radicalisation is old and deep” and that his actions are a “fictitious amnesia” or even “deception.”
– ‘Commit an attack’
The month before the attack, Aouissaoui travelled from Tunisia to Europe, first by land to Italy and then by sea to France.
Prosecutors claim that on the morning of the attack, Aouissaoui entered the Basilica of Notre-Dame in the centre of Nice with three knives, two cell phones, and a copy of the Koran.
Citing his “proven radicalisation and association with individuals involved in terrorist cases” in Tunisia, they have contended that he already planned to “commit an attack in France” before departing the country.
The trial is scheduled for February 26 and the accused will be cross-examined on February 24.
The murders in Nice occurred two weeks after an 18-year-old Chechen immigrant decapitated history teacher Samuel Paty for showing his students drawings of the Prophet Mohammed during a speech class on free expression.
Following the murders, Aouissaoui was shot multiple times by police, and while being taken into custody, he kept yelling “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).
Before the incident, French intelligence had no records about Aouissaoui.
He was born into a big family in Sfax, Tunisia.
He had turned to prayer in the years before his departure, according to his mother, who also stated he fixed motorcycles.
She told AFP soon after the attack, “He didn’t go out and didn’t communicate with others.”
