Strasbourg Christmas market attack trial begins

Five people were killed after Cherif Chekatt opened fire at a Christmas market in 2018

Four men have gone on trial for their alleged involvement in the deadly Strasbourg Christmas market attack in north-eastern France in December 2018.

Five people were killed after gunman Cherif Chekatt opened fire on the crowd at the open-air market. Chekatt was shot dead by police two days later.

The four men on trial are accused of crimes ranging from terrorism to helping to supply weapons.

All four suspects deny the charges. A fifth may be tried at a later date.

The trial started at the Court of Assize in Paris on Thursday.

A lawyer representing some of the families affected by the attack, Arnaud Friedrich, told AFP news agency it was a "key moment" for his clients.

One of the defendants, Audrey Mondjehi, 42, is accused of terrorism and could face the maximum penalty of life imprisonment if he is found guilty.

The indictment (seen by AFP) against Mr Mondjehi - who shared a prison cell with Chekatt - argues that he played "an indispensable role in providing a weapon" to the assailant by putting him in contact with those who sold him weapons and that he "could not have been unaware of, or may have even shared, all or part of Cherif Chekatt's radical convictions".

The defendant's lawyer, Michael Wacquez, said Mr Mondjehi "should not be condemned because Cherif Chekatt is not there", adding that he "did not instigate anything in a terrorist context".

The other three defendants, Frédéric Bodein, Stéphane Bodein and Christian Hoffmann, who are all in their 30s, face criminal conspiracy charges for their alleged roles in supplying weapons and could get up to 10 years in prison.

The trial is due to end in early April.

A fifth man, in his mid-80s, may be tried at a later date after a medical examination found he was not fit to stand trial.

• Face to face with the Strasbourg gunman

At about 8pm on December 2018, Chekatt - who had a string of criminal convictions and was on a watchlist of people who represent a potential threat to national security - entered the historic centre of Strasbourg armed with a revolver and a knife.

He opened fire, shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") as he did so, before killing five people at random and injuring a further 11.

He managed to escape the area by jumping into a taxi, before being found by police after a 48-hour manhunt.

Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attack, and a video pledging allegiance to the group was found at Chekatt's home. But the French interior minister at the time, Christophe Castaner, cast doubt on IS's claim, saying it was taking credit for an attack it hadn't planned.

The five people who were killed were:

• Antonio Megalizzi, a 29-year-old Italian journalist

• Barto Pedro Orent-Niedzielski, a 36-year-old Strasbourg musician of Polish origin

• Anupong Suebsamarn, 45, who was a Thai national on holiday with his wife

• Kamal Naghchband, a garage mechanic who was originally from Afghanistan

• Pascal Verdenne, a retired bank worker aged 61 from Strasbourg