French judges have charged five suspects who were in contact with truck attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel in the lead-up to the Nice attack that left 84 people dead, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
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Prosecutor Francois Molins also said on Thursday that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had help from five suspects now in police custody.
“Ramzi A.”, 22-year-old French-Tunisian, convicted of six other crimes including theft, violence and drug use.
The revelation came as five alleged accomplices of the man who used a 19-tonne lorry to murder 84 people appeared in court today charged with terrorist offences. The other two, an Albanian couple with names Artan and Enkeldja faced charges of “breaking the law on weapons in relation to a terrorist group”.
Molins said photos on Bouhlel’s phone showed he had likely already staked out the same July 14 event in 2015.
“It appears. that Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel planned and developed his criminal project for several months before taking action”, Molins added.
In the aftermath of the Nice attack, the Islamic State declared Bouhlel a “soldier” of the militant group’s self-proclaimed caliphate, although French authorities said their investigation has not found any direct links between Bouhlel and the Islamic State.
On April 4, Tunisian Chokri C., sent Bouhlel a Facebook message reading: “Load the truck with 2,000 tons of iron. release the brakes my friend and I will watch”.
Analysis of Bouhlel’s telephone revealed pictures taken at a Bastille Day fireworks display in Nice in 2015, as well as a concert on the Promenade des Anglais on July 17, 2015, at which he had zoomed in on the crowd.
None of them had been known to intelligence services. “I am glad they brought in Allah’s soldiers to finish the job”.
At 10.27pm, minutes before the attack started, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel send his last text message, to Ramzi A. It read: “I wanted to tell you that the pistol that you got me yesterday it very good, so I want five from your girlfriend”.
Authorities identified him by fingerprints after his identification card was found in the truck. Also on the phone was an image of an article on a Tunisian man killed in January after he tried to attack a police station in Paris.
France’s Socialist government has sparred repeatedly with opposing politicians on the right and far-right, especially local officials in Nice, over how many national and municipal officers were securing the promenade on the night of the attack and how they were spread out.
French officials investigating the terrorist attack in Nice, France, announced it was premeditated and the attacker had help from accomplices.
Hollande said Friday the equipment will be in place next month, as part of French efforts to boost its participation in the USA -led fight against IS.
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The July 14 attack by the Tunisian delivery man at peak holiday time on the Riviera plunged France into new grief and fear, just eight months after jihadist gunmen killed 130 people in Paris.
