Four individuals stand trial today for their alleged involvement in the 2018 terrorist attack on Strasbourg’s Christmas market, where a gunman, Chérif Chekatt, killed five people and wounded 11 others in an incident later claimed by the Islamic StateChérif Chekatt, a 29-year-old native of Strasbourg with a history of crime including over 20 convictions for theft and violence, unleashed gunfire from a 19th-century revolver on December 11th in the city's historic center. The attack spanned 10 minutes and targeted pedestrians with both firearm and knife at three separate locations near the city's cathedral, a site drawing millions of visitors annually for the Christmas market.
Following the assault, Chekatt fled to the southern part of the city where, after a 48-hour manhunt, he was killed in a confrontation with law enforcement. The trial in Paris involves four Frenchmen, aged between 34 and 43. Stéphane Bodein, Frédéric Bodein, and Christian Hoffmann face charges related to weapon procurement, while Audrey Mondjehi-Kpanhoue, a former cellmate of Chekatt, faces terrorism charges and the potential of life imprisonment. Mondjehi-Kpanhoue is accused of facilitating the acquisition of a firearm and sharing Chekatt’s extremist beliefs. A fifth individual, aged 84, will be tried separately due to health reasons.
The trial is expected to feature testimonies from survivors and the bereaved, including a father from Afghanistan visiting the market with his children and a Thai tourist. Many survivors continue to grapple with life-altering injuries and psychological trauma. One survivor, now a teacher in Paris, recounted how the attack irreversibly changed her life, witnessing the shooting of two friends in front of her.
The survivor, who prefers to remain anonymous, shared her experience as a student journalist at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, hosted by her colleague Bartosz Piotr Orent-Niedezelski, known as Bartek, alongside Antonio Megalizzi, an Italian journalist, and another female student journalist.
