Frédéric Michel, edited by Juliette Moreau Alvarez
Sunday, six years after the events, the trial of the Nice attack opens in Paris. Eighty civilians mowed down, 318 injured, more than 3,000 people psychologically impacted, including a thousand children still followed. The trial of the Nice attack which opens this Monday is that of a night of carnage, an evening that began in joy and will end in tears. The July 14 fireworks brought together many families: parents, grandparents with their children and grandchildren. Friends of all conditions, all religions and from all over the world.
Among the 865 civil parties identified for the moment, there are no less than thirty-nine nationalities. The victims who lost their lives on the Promenade des Anglais, the angels as they are now called, came from nineteen different countries. On the bench of the accused, seven people will take place. An eighth defendant is on the run and will be tried in absentia. Another committed suicide in prison. But the great absentee from this trial is Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the author of the attack. Stopped in his mad dash by several shots by the police, the Tunisian died at the wheel of his truck. Without his explanations, many gray areas remain in this file.
An assize trial broadcast remotely
For the first time, this assize trial for terrorism will be broadcast remotely and translated. Major cases, such as the trial of the explosion of the AZF factory, had already required the installation of such a device, but never before this special court where only professional magistrates sit. The objective is to facilitate access to hearings for the many civil parties. Two rooms with light colors and felted coverings have been installed in the Palais des Congrès in Nice.
Lise Jaulin is in charge of communication for the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office. “One of the rooms is dedicated to civil parties and their lawyers. It has 500 seats and the other room is a room for the public and the press”, she explains. “There are 200 seats in this second room. It is a so-called passive broadcast, without interaction.” An agreement has been signed with the Ministry of Justice allowing this remote projection. We will see the court in wide shot and at each speech, the speakers will be filmed in close-up. A web radio in French and English will be accessible from abroad.
The system is fully secure for civil parties wishing to connect. “By means, in particular diplomatic. We made sure that she could recover their access keys to the web radio”, specifies Lise Jaulin. This web radio will broadcast the fifteen weeks of the trial with a 30-minute delay to cut off any comments that could shock from a distance.