The trial of a Tunisian man charged with the triple murder of visitors and staff at the Notre Dame Basilica in the southern French city of Nice began on Monday at a jury court in Paris.
The 25-year-old is accused of killing three people with a knife and seriously injuring others in the Roman Catholic church in the Mediterranean city on October 29, 2020.
Police shot the suspect, who survived with serious injuries. French President Emmanuel Macron later spoke of an “Islamist terrorist attack.”
The renewed publication of the controversial Mohammed cartoons by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was seen as a possible motive.
The attack took place just days after a call by the terrorist network al-Qaeda to attack French people in churches in response to the republication of the cartoons.
At the start of the trial, the defendant said he had no memory of the alleged offence, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported from the courtroom.
“I have nothing to say because I can’t remember anything,” he said.
The man, who is charged with murder and attempted murder with a terrorist background, is facing life imprisonment. The trial is scheduled to last until February 26.
According to the results of the investigation, the man initially wanted to carry out the attack in Paris, but then decided to target the location in Nice.
He had travelled to France via Italy shortly beforehand. According to prosecutors, photos relating to the Islamic State terrorist militia were found on his mobile phones.
In an audio file, the suspect described France as a “land of infidels.”
