Almost six years after the assassination of Father Hamel in full mass in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray (Seine-Maritime), in July 2016, the trial of this attack opened on Monday February 14 in Paris. If thehe two perpetrators of the assassination were shot dead by the police at the exit of the building, on July 26, 2016, four men around them are today on trial for “terrorist association of criminals”, for which They face 30 years in prison. Yet only three are present: one of missing from the trial is the jihadist Rachid Kassim, the alleged instigator of the attack, probably died in Iraq in 2017.
>> Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray attack: a hesitant defendant and very noticeable absences at the start of the trial
Rachid Kassim’s mother, who lives in Saint-Etienne (Loire), was summoned to the hearing. But she will not come: in a long letter that franceinfo was able to consult, she made the request to the court, which accepted.
In these five blue ink manuscript pages, addressed to the President of the Assize Court, she wrote: “I assure you that I cannot take the floor in court to speak about this individual“.”This individual“: this is how she refers to her son, accused of being the sponsor of the attack in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, and who appears in several terrorism files in France.
“Horrible, unforgivable things, writes his mother. For me, this child is no longer my son and he is dead. I’m upset, I can’t sleep anymore, I can’t eat anymore” she continues.
The Stéphanoise then mentions these diseases as hypertension, diabetes, “an abscess that can wake up“.”The nightmare begins again. I have the impression of constantly drowning myself with each summons from the police and the justice system. I’m afraid of being destroyed again“. These are his last words before a close signing.
On July 26, 2016, two 19-year-old terrorists burst into a church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray (Seine-Maritime), during mass. They slaughtered Father Hamel there, before being shot by the special forces.