Paris Soir - Tunisian accused says cannot remember 2020 France church killings

Brahim Aouissaoui, 25, is being tried at a special court in Paris and faces life in jail if convicted. The murderous rampage on October 29, 2020 was one of a number of deadly incidents in France blamed on Islamist radicals since 2015.

Aouissaoui, speaking in Arabic through an interpreter, with his long hair combed back and a short beard, confirmed his identity as the trial opened.

He has insisted he has no memory of the attack and told the court: "I don't remember the facts. I have nothing to say because I don't remember anything."

A cry of rage and despair sounded from court benches reserved for the relatives of victims and their lawyers.

Presiding judge Christophe Petiteau told gendarmes to expel one man who shouted abuse at Aouissaoui.

Aouissaoui has also said he does not know the name of his lawyer.

"When I talk to him, I have the impression -- but again I'm not a doctor or an expert -- I have the impression that he doesn't understand the issues of this trial, that he doesn't understand the stakes of this case," his lawyer Martin Mechin told reporters outside the court.

- 'Very exaggerated' -

According to prosecutors, armed with a kitchen knife, Aouissaoui almost decapitated Nadine Vincent, a 60-year-old worshipper, stabbed 44-year-old Franco-Brazilian mother Simone Barreto Silva 24 times and slit the throat of the sacristan Vincent Loques, 55, a father of two daughters.

Seriously injured by police after the attack, Aouissaoui has always insisted that he does not remember anything.

However, his medical examination did not reveal any brain damage and a psychiatric assessment concluded that there was no impairment of his judgement at the time of the events.

His telephone conversations in prison have also shown "that his alleged amnesia was at the very least very exaggerated", according to the prosecution.

His behaviour is a "fictitious amnesia" or even "deception", according to Philippe Soussi, a lawyer for the husband of one victim and of the French Association of Victims of Terrorism (AFVT), adding that the accused's "radicalisation is old and deep".

- 'Commit an attack' -

Aouissaoui arrived in Europe from Tunisia the month before the attack, first crossing the Mediterranean to Italy and then going to France overland.

On the morning of the attack, Aouissaoui entered the Basilica of Notre-Dame in the heart of Nice, carrying a copy of the Koran, three knives and two mobile phones, according to prosecutors.

They have argued that he already intended to "commit an attack in France" before leaving Tunisia, pointing to a "proven radicalisation and association with individuals involved in terrorist cases" in Tunisia.

The accused is to be cross-examined on February 24 and the trial is due to last until February 26.

The Nice killings came two weeks after history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee for having shown his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a lesson on freedom of speech.

Aouissaoui was shot several times by police after the killings and continued to shout "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) as he was being arrested.

French intelligence had nothing on file relating to Aouissaoui prior to the attack.

He hails from a large family in the Tunisian city of Sfax.

His mother said he repaired motorcycles and described how he had taken to prayer in the years before he left.

"He didn't go out and didn't communicate with others," she told AFP shortly after the attack.

F.Richard--PS