Mohamed Ghraieb and Chokri Chafroud were found guilty on Thursday 13 June of “association de malfaiteurs terroristes” for the “ideological” and “logistical” support they provided to the killer, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel

The verdict has come down in the appeal trial for the Nice attack. The two defendants, Mohamed Ghraieb and Chokri Chafroud, were sentenced to 18 years in prison, with a two-thirds security period.

Mohamed Ghraieb is also banned from residing in the Alpes-Maritimes, while Chokri Chafroud is banned from residing anywhere in France. They are both on the list of terrorist offenders.

These two friends of the terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who killed 86 people on the Promenade des Anglais on 14 July 2016, were the only ones to appeal their conviction. At first instance, in December 2022, they had already been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

“A lack of moral sense”

Naïma Rudloff, the public prosecutor, had requested a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for the two Tunisian nationals, compared with 15 years at first instance.

The representative of the public prosecutor emphasised the “ideological” and “logistical” support they had given to the terrorist, although she considered that they were neither accomplices nor co-perpetrators.

“In these three men, resentment, victimisation, duplicity and a flawed sense of morality are all powerful levers that can lead to terrorism”, she added.

The lawyers argued for acquittal

Mohamed Ghraieb, a former hotel receptionist, is considered by the prosecution to be the driving force behind the radicalisation of the future killer. After denying this, he admitted exchanging hate messages with Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel on social networks.

His lawyers pleaded his acquittal, claiming that he was unaware of the planned attack. Mohamed Ghraieb was “not linked to the weapon” held by Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel and “was not involved in hiring the lorry”, they argued.

Chokri Chafroud, an undocumented migrant, was also unaware of the plan, according to his lawyers. They attempted to dismantle the prosecution’s arguments point by point, relying in particular on the testimony of those close to the assailant, such as his lover, “who himself was unable to detect his radicalisation”.

A wallpaper as a “Judas kiss”

The lawyers pointed out that items found on the killer’s computer, such as videos of lorry accidents, illustrated his aspirations long before he met Chokri Chafroud.

In their view, the accusations were based on conjecture. Described as having “neither the personality nor the intelligence to be a mentor”, Chokri Chafroud could not, according to the lawyers, have pushed the terrorist to take action.

In the end, it was a trap set by Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel that led Chokri Chafroud to the dock, concluded one of the lawyers. A photo of the two men used as wallpaper on the killer’s phone was seen as a sign of proximity or complicity. For the lawyer, “this photo is a Judas kiss that Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel took to his grave and which sealed Chokri Chafroud’s guilt for eight years”.