Peter Cherif, 42, one of the oldest French jihadists, has been on trial since Monday before the Paris Assize Court, specially composed for the occasion, for criminal terrorist association. Arrested late in 2018 in Djibouti, he had not been able to be tried at the time from the trial of the January 2015 attacks four years ago.
At the end of this first day of hearing, mainly devoted to the identification of the civil parties and the presentation of the case, the president of the assize court asked the accused if he admitted the offences with which he was charged.
Peter Cherif denies his involvement
“No, I do not acknowledge the facts with which I am accused,” he replied politely, says the franceinfo journalist present on site. His appearance contrasts with his last appearance at the trial of the Charlie Hebdo and hypercasher attacks. Heard as a witness via video conference from his prison, he was slumped on a slope, dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and reciting surahs from the Koran. This time, he is dressed in a fitted gray suit, a white shirt, he wears large glasses and a surgical mask hiding half of his face.
Although he has denied the facts since the start of the investigations, the civil parties hope that he will explain his role within Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which claimed responsibility for the attack on the newspaper. According to a confession from his lawyer reported by the franceinfo journalist, he would not be averse to talking if the right conditions are met. Peter Cherif will be heard on Tuesday about his personality.
One of the oldest French jihadists
Peter Cherif has set foot on all the lands of jihad. He was 22 years old when he left France to fight in Iraq and then in Syria. He then went to Yemen for seven years, where he would become framework in the ranks of Aqpa. The decision to attack Charlie Hebdo was taken in the same country, where his great childhood friend Cherif Kouachi came to visit him. The latter left Yemen with a job abroad: the Charlie Hebdo attack.
Although the investigation failed to prove that Peter Cherif was the instigator of the attack, he is being tried for criminal terrorist association. He is also appearing for the organized kidnapping in 2011, for more than five months, of three French nationals, members of the NGO Triangle Génération Humainitaire.
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