30 years in prison required for the assailant

The attack took place on September 25, 2020, in the middle of the trial of the January 2015 attacks which notably targeted Charlie Hebdo.

On Tuesday January 21, the prosecution requested 30 years in prison for Zaheer Mahmood, a 29-year-old Pakistani accused of attacking two people with a chopper in front of the newspaper's former premises. Charlie Hebdo in Paris, in 2020. He is on trial for attempted assassinations and terrorist conspiracy.

“We noted an undeniable desire to kill blasphemers by targeting the neck and face to respond to the backward ideology to which he subscribed”declared one of the attorneys general during his indictment. He recalled that this attack had been the first in a series of attacks in the fall of 2020, a few weeks before the assassination of Professor Samuel Paty and the attack against the basilica of Nice.

Following a two-party indictment, the attorneys general also requested a two-thirds security sentence, permanent ban from the national territory and inclusion in the file of perpetrators of terrorist offenses (Fijait).

The attack took place on September 25, 2020, in the middle of the attacks of January 2015, having targeted in particular Charlie Hebdo. The satirical weekly was the subject of new threats since it republished caricatures of Mohammed on the opening day of the hearing. Zaheer Mahmood, follower of a radical imam, heard “avenge the Prophet” after this republication. He was unaware that the weekly had moved after the attack which decimated its editorial staff.

“Today I recognize that what I did was an act of terrorism. I understand”he declared during the debates from the dock, before explaining that at the time of the events, he thought “do good for Islam”. On numerous occasions during the more than two-week trial, he also asked the victims for forgiveness, sometimes in tears.

During their indictments, the attorneys general argued that Zaheer Mahmood would never have been able to act without the support of his friends, five men tried alongside him for terrorist conspiracy. Against these people, the prosecution requested sentences ranging from three to thirteen years in prison. Defense lawyers are scheduled to enter arguments Wednesday and the verdict could be delivered Thursday evening.