Jihadist Peter Cherif sentenced to life in prison: role in Charlie Hebdo attacks still unclear

This Thursday morning, in their pleadings, the lawyers of Peter Cherif had denounced a “rigged match”.

For three weeks, jihadist Peter Cherif has been on trial for criminal terrorist association between 2011 and 2018 before the Special Assize Court of Paris. This Thursday, October 3, early in the evening, the 42-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in organizing the Charlie Hebdo attack on January 7, 2015. The life imprisonment life imprisonment, with a security period of 22 years, had initially been requested by the two attorneys general.

Peter Cherif is accused of joining the ranks of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Present in Yemen between 2011 and 2018, he is suspected of having participated in the training of his childhood friend, a certain Chérif Kouachi. With his brother, they were the perpetrators of the attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in 2015. A tragedy claimed by AQAP, which cost the lives of 12 people. During his trial, Peter Cherif, who was also accused of having kidnapped three French aid workers for five months in 2011, admitted to having acted as a translator between the hostages and their captors. However, he has always maintained that he never played no role in the Charlie Hebdo attack. 

His lawyers defended the theory of a “fixed match” in advance during their pleadings this Thursday morning, arguing that the ministry's objective was “to eliminate Peter Cherif” and that “for this reason we are obliged to […] have him convicted in relation to the attacks” of January 2015. Stressing that his client was not being tried in this case for “complicity”, Mr. El Ouchikli pointed out that “the public prosecutor admitted that it did not have the “elements” to go in this direction and that it had therefore “circumvented” the problem by accusing Peter Cherif of “criminal terrorist association”, a term that is the very broad definition.