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On July 26, 2016, Father Hamel was the victim of a terrorist attack in his church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray (Seine Maritime). Tomorrow, Monday February 14, the trial of the alleged accomplices in the attack will begin. A key witness in the trial and survivor of this tragedy agreed to give his testimony.
The man is fragile, still very scarred but very much alive. At 92, Guy Coponet was seriously injured in the attack that took place in the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray (Seine Maritime) in July 2016 and whose trial of the alleged accomplices will open on Monday 14 February. That day, he attends mass and remembers the mood of the priest, Jacques Hamel. “He looked happy”he said. Suddenly, two assailants burst in, knives in hand and dummy explosives.
Under threat, they force him to film the assassination of Father Hamel. “I had to tell them ‘but what are you going to do? Are you going to kill your grandfather?“says Guy Coponet. Then, after having killed the priest, the two men attack him, attacking him with a knife, in the neck, in the arm and in the back. Half Unconscious, Guy “fall down and play dead”. During this time, the assailants ransack the church. guy Coponet will survive the attack. “The medics at the CHU couldn’t believe it”reports the nonagenarian.