PARIS — A Tunisian man went on trial in France on Monday on terrorism charges for the 2020 killing of three people in a basilica in Nice, a city on the French Riviera. The attack was one of several that year linked to Islamic extremism.
The suspect, Brahim Aouissaoui, now 25, was shot and seriously wounded by police during the attack. He claims to have no recollection of the events.
As he charged at police officers with a knife, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is great), they opened fire, leaving him critically injured. Aouissaoui underwent two surgeries and was placed in intensive care.
Throughout the investigation, he has repeatedly insisted that he remembers nothing and has remained uncooperative. He falsely claimed that his parents were deceased and failed to recognize himself in CCTV footage showing him entering the basilica. However, psychiatric and neurological experts concluded that he does not suffer from total memory loss.
Samia Maktouf, the lawyer representing the family of one of the victims, described him as a “radicalized, indoctrinated Salafist” aligned with al-Qaida ideologies, noting that the terrorist group even praised his actions.
Investigators found that Aouissaoui had been aware of threats against France from al-Qaida-linked media following the trial of the Charlie Hebdo attack. He had reportedly referred to France as “a country of miscreants and dogs” in social media posts.
Authorities also determined that he had scouted the basilica multiple times before the attack, planning it over several weeks.
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