Charlie Hebdo attack: Peter Cherif, jihadist close to one of the Kouachi brothers, sentenced to life imprisonment

Jihadist Peter Cherif, tried before the special assize court in Paris for the role he may have played in Yemen alongside Chérif Kouachi, one of the Charlie Hebdo attackers in 2015, and for the kidnapping of three humanitarian workers in 2011, was sentenced Thursday to life imprisonment in France.

This sentence was accompanied by a 22-year security period. The president of the special assize court explained that this decision had been taken “in view of the seriousness of the facts”accused and the "dangerousness" of Peter Cherif.

On Wednesday, after nearly three weeks of trial, the two attorneys general had requested life imprisonment for him, asking that this sentence be accompanied by a security period of 22 years. Peter Cherif's lawyers denounced in their pleadings Thursday morning, a "fixed match".

For Me Nabil El Ouchikli, "the purpose" of the public prosecutor, “is to eliminate Peter Cherif, and for that we are obliged to have him convicted in relation to the attacks” of January 2015.

The 42-year-old jihad veteran has been on trial since September 16 for criminal terrorist association between 2011 and 2018, the period of his presence in Yemen within Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

He is accused of having joined the ranks of this jihadist organization and, in this context, of having participated in the training of his childhood friend Chérif Kouachi in the attack committed on January 7, 2015 in Paris at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people were murdered. The attack was claimed by AQAP.

He is also appearing for the organized gang kidnapping in 2011, for more than five months, of three French nationals, members of the NGO Triangle Génération Humainitaire.

Although he mostly exercised his right to remain silent during the trial, Peter Cherif admitted to having been one of the jailers of the three humanitarians, having served as a “translator” to act as an interface between the hostages and their Yemeni Al-Qaeda captors. He has, however, denied having played a role in the Charlie Hebdo attack.

The attorneys general have requested that he be declared “guilty” of all the charges against him, painting for more than four hours the portrait of a “complete jihadist” who was “the cornerstone of the preparation” of the Charlie Hebdo attack, the danger of which is according to them still "maximum".

"Judicial truth"

Regarding the Charlie Hebdo section, Mr. El Ouchikli noted that his client was not being tried for “complicity”. According to him, “the public prosecutor admitted that he did not have the evidence” to that effect “and circumvented” the difficulty by accusing him of “criminal terrorist association”, a very elastic offence and often described as a catch-all.

His colleague, Me Sefen Guez Guez, castigated the elements on which the public prosecutor relied to demonstrate Peter Cherif's guilt – in particular declassified notes and statements by an arms trafficker. “That's enough to construct a judicial truth ?", he said. "I don't think so".

The lawyers attempted to respond to the multiple criticisms of the silence observed by Peter Cherif during the proceedings.

"Did this trial allow the civil parties' questions to be answered ?", asked Mr. El Ouchikli. “Perhaps one of the reasons for Peter Cherif's silence or occasional statements is that he doesn't have those answers”, he said.

“What he is prepared to assume is a totally disembodied story”, but to factual questions, “he closes himself off” and “as soon as we talk about the attacks on 2015, he fled", criticized one of the two attorneys general, Benjamin Chambre, on Wednesday. "There was incomprehension and anger", declared Me Marie-Laure Barré during the pleadings of the civil party lawyers.

"Answering questions, those were acts of compassion. We got nothing, everything was under control", she continued. “This strategy is disastrous, it hurts”. Just before the court left to deliberate, Peter Cherif, who was invited to speak, indicated that he had “nothing to add”.