{"id":17843,"date":"2020-11-16T09:53:10","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T14:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=17843"},"modified":"2020-11-16T09:53:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T14:53:10","slug":"france-train-attack-four-stand-trial-over-foiled-thalys-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2020\/11\/16\/france-train-attack-four-stand-trial-over-foiled-thalys-shooting\/","title":{"rendered":"France train attack: Four stand trial over foiled Thalys shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p><b class=\"css-14iz86j-BoldText e5tfeyi0\">Four people have gone on trial in France over an August 2015 plot to attack Americans on a high-speed train.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>Ayoub El-Khazzani is accused of opening fire on board a train travelling from Amsterdam to Paris, three months before the Paris attacks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>Two people were wounded before he was overpowered by passengers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>No-one died in the incident, which inspired a Clint Eastwood thriller The 15:17 to Paris.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>Three others are suspected of helping Mr El-Khazzani plan the attack. Bilal Chatra, Mohamed Bakkali and Redouane Sebbar face lesser charges than the alleged gunman. These include conspiring with terrorists and complicity in attempted murder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>Mr El-Khazzani, meanwhile, could face life in prison if found guilty of attempted murder as part of a terrorist enterprise and conspiracy to commit terrorist crime. During an initial hearing he told the judge that the\u00a0<a class=\"css-yidnqd-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-europe-34835046\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paris attacks&#8217; organiser Abdelhamid Abaaoud<\/a>\u00a0had ordered his attack, according to news agency AFP.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"unordered-list-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<div class=\"css-1pzprxn-BulletListContainer e5tfeyi3\">\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><a class=\"css-yidnqd-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-34032218\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Who is train attack suspect Ayoub El-Khazzani<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"css-yidnqd-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-europe-54924051\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paris mourns 2015 victims amid jihadist threat<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"css-yidnqd-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-42993829\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lawyer criticises Clint Eastwood Thalys attack film<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"css-yidnqd-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-34034840\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8216;Instinct&#8217; led US passengers to react<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>Dozens of people have been called as witnesses in the trial, following a four-year investigation. Eastwood, 90, is himself believed to have been called as an expert witness and material from his film could reportedly be shown during the proceedings.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>Ayoub El-Khazzani, a Moroccan national who fought for Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria, told the earlier hearing attended by AFP that Abaaoud had said he should target Americans: &#8220;He told me the best way of carrying out my mission was to use explosives. But I said I preferred a Kalashnikov.&#8221; The pair allegedly travelled to Europe from Syria and stayed together in Brussels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>He is then said to have boarded the train at Brussels Midi station on 21 August 2015 armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, 270 rounds of ammunition a pistol, a bottle of petrol, a box-cutter and a hammer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>Prosecutors say that he then launched his attack intending to carry out mass slaughter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>Four passengers tackled the attacker, including two off-duty American servicemen, as the train passed the French town of Oignies. The French president at the time, Fran\u00e7ois Hollande, personally awarded all four with France&#8217;s top honour, the L\u00e9gion d&#8217;honneur.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>The suspect later told a judge he could not have killed anyone,\u00a0<a class=\"css-yidnqd-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.franceinter.fr\/justice\/j-ai-pas-pu-tuer-l-auteur-de-l-attentat-du-thalys-s-explique-sur-les-faits\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he was quoted as saying by France Inter<\/a>. &#8220;I had two weapons on me. Inside I was a psychological wreck, but at the last minute I just couldn&#8217;t do it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>He is also said to have told the judge that, having seen what had happened in Syria since he had been in custody, he regretted his failure to kill anyone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i81\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"css-83cqas-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi2\">\n<p>The trial is expected to conclude on 18 December.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-europe-54921285\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">Four people have gone on trial in France over an August 2015 plot to attack Americans on a high-speed train. Ayoub El-Khazzani is accused of opening fire on board a train travelling from Amsterdam to <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2020\/11\/16\/france-train-attack-four-stand-trial-over-foiled-thalys-shooting\/\" title=\"France train attack: Four stand trial over foiled Thalys shooting\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[6318,7443,2913,7267,3065],"class_list":{"0":"post-17843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-world","9":"tag-amsterdam","10":"tag-ayoub-el-khazzani","11":"tag-france","12":"tag-jihadism","13":"tag-terror-attack","14":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17845,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17843\/revisions\/17845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}