The special assize court ruling on appeal in the case of the assassination in 2017 of the police officer Xavier Jugelé, confirmed on Wednesday the judgment of first instance by condemning Nourredine Allam, the main defendant, to ten years of criminal imprisonment. Contrary to the wishes of the public prosecutor’s office, the court did not retain the association of terrorist criminals against the accused.
After denying everything during the trial at first instance, the 32-year-old Franco-Algerian admitted on appeal to having served as an intermediary between Karim Cheurfi, the man who killed Xavier Jugelé on the Champs-Elysées in April 2017, and the man who sold him a Kalashnikov. According to the prosecution, it was Nourredine Allam who sold this weapon to Karim Cheurfi after having bought it from a third party.
15 years in prison required
“Nourredine Allam necessarily had knowledge of Karim Cheurfi’s criminal plan to attempt the lives of police officers”, retained the court. But, she added, he didn’t know the details. “There is no evidence to establish that Nourredine Allam was aware of the radicalization of Karim Cheurfi, his jihadist ideas and his terrorist projects,” said the president of the assize court David Hill.
As a result, he added, Nourredine Allam is “acquitted of the crime of participating in a terrorist criminal association”. As in the first instance, he was therefore sentenced for a simple association of criminals with a view to the preparation of one or more crimes. In his requisitions, the Advocate General had requested 15 years in prison against Noureddine Allam and asked for the reclassification of his crime as a terrorist offense.
“It’s pathetic,” exclaimed Michel Jugelé, Xavier Jugelé’s father, when the verdict was announced. “The police institution is flouted,” he said. “If it’s not a terrorist act, what is it?” asked Christophe Crépin, spokesman for the Pro Police union. As in the first instance, the court acquitted Médérik Marinne who appeared free at the hearing.
Traces of DNA found on the butt of the rifle
DNA traces of Médérik Marinne were found on the button of the butt of the assault rifle used by Karim Cheurfi, but the court “could not determine under what circumstances Médérik Marinne touched this weapon”. “The mere presence of his DNA trace on the locking button of the butt of the weapon, in the absence of any other evidence, cannot be sufficient to characterize an act of detention within the meaning of the law”, indicated the court.
On April 20, 2017, Karim Cheurfi killed Xavier Jugelé and injured two of his colleagues as well as a German tourist, before being shot down by return fire. At first instance, two other men involved in the sale of the Kalashnikov were tried and sentenced to six years and five years in prison. These two men had not appealed.