A teenage girl, aged 5 at the time of the incident, and her brother were interviewed by videoconference on Monday. They wanted to share their experiences of the attack to “put the pieces together”.
“We were walking quietly. And suddenly, boom, nothing more. We hit a crowd, we fell. We lost consciousness.” At the age of 13, Landy applies herself to reading her text, which she holds in her hands. His youthful voice echoes in the silent courtroom. Her face appears on the screens: she testifies by videoconference. Dressed all in white, including the headband that holds her long, straight brown hair, she is leaning on a table. On his right, his brother, Telyan, who will be 12 years old. On his left, his mother and his lawyer.
On the evening of July 14, 2016, when Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a truck into the thousands of spectators who had attended the fireworks and killed 86 people, before being shot dead by the police, she was 5 years and a half. Telyan had 4. The teenager, in 5th grade, is the youngest victim to speak before the special assize court of Paris, at the appeal trial of the Nice attack, where two relatives of the terrorist are judged. If minor victims had testified at first instance, like Ornella, 12 years old at the time of the events, none of the children aged between 4 and 8 years old at the time had yet spoken at the hearing.
“My brother was completely disfigured”
Landy was with his family on the Promenade des Anglais to see the July 14 fireworks show. In the words of a child, she tells how her family has been “dispatched” after the attack. His little brother’s stroller is empty, beside him, “broken and turned over, without baby”. “We were able to find him a few hours later. He was screaming, a Franco-German couple took him and brought him to safety”explains the little girl, who specifies that “These people have become friends of our family”.
Landy lists the other injuries: “Mom was bleeding on her arm and completely delirious. Even when we brought the baby back to her, she was still in shock, she didn’t even recognize him.”, “Dad had a rib fracture”, “my other brother was completely disfigured”. The latter suffers from a double fracture of the mandible, she from a “skull depression” and legs. She leaves the hospital “head and leg cast”in a wheelchair, after a stint in intensive care.
Even today, Landy has after-effects, such as “all children affected”, on whose behalf she speaks. She says she has a “scar on left leg” And “having to wear an orthopedic insole until the end of [sa] growth”. Then the young teenager talks about “trauma”which will remain “forever engraved” in his life.
“We suffered from fear and anxiety for several years. We dropped out of school right after.”
Landy, victim of the Nice attackbefore the special assize court of Paris
His brother, currently in 6th grade, also testifies to the trauma suffered: “When I was little, after the attack, I always peed on myself. When evening comes, I always have anxiety, I am afraid of separation from my parents.” Because “images sometimes carry more weight than words”, the boy wanted photos of his swollen face and his sister lying on a hospital bed with a cast to be shown. Telyan chooses to conclude with a message of hope: “I would just say that there is strength in numbers and the best is yet to come.”
“I want to tell the judge what I experienced”
After the testimony of these young witnesses, which lasted around fifteen minutes, the president of the special assize court spoke again: “We know that it is not easy for adults and that it is even less easy for children.” Their lawyer present in the courtroom accompanied them in this process with her colleague in Nice. However, initially, “she wasn’t very up for it”. “But they insisted and I thank them”she emphasizes. “It is important for me to testify today, not having the strength to testify at the first trial. Important to unburden myself once and for all, it is part of the healing process”explained his young client, Landy, a little earlier.
“For a child to be healed, listening and the right to speak are very important.”
Landy, victim of the Nice attackbefore the special assize court of Paris
“These are courageous children, who want to testify openly, in front of everyone,” confirms Hager Ben Aouissi, who founded the Une chemin des enfants association in March 2022 to help young victims of trauma. On July 14, 2016, she passed with her daughter between the wheels of the 19-ton heavy goods vehicle on the Promenade des Anglais. Kenza was 4 years old and the images of the attack are imprinted in her memory. “Since then, she has completely regressed, she has become a baby again”confided his mother to franceinfo, in October 2022, at the start of the first trial.
Today, Kenza, who followed part of the debates, is determined to testify. She will speak on Tuesday May 14. “She told me, ‘I want to tell the judge what I experienced in my own words. I want to look at the defendants when I speak.’ She imagined bad guys, monsters, since she saw them, she no longer fantasizes., explains his mother. Hager Ben Aouissi specifies that his daughter prepared her hearing with her child psychiatrist like most of the children – around ten – who will testify at this trial.
A preparatory meeting is also planned for Monday at the end of the day in Nice, with Professor Florence Askenazy, specializing in the traumatic symptoms of child victims, direct or indirect victims of the attack. “They grew up suddenly, they need to understandunderlines Hager Ben Aouissi. It’s like putting the pieces of a puzzle together: it’s important for them, to rebuild themselves.”