Nice attack: victims see a new trial as "hope" to establish responsibility

Ten years after the July 14, 2016 attack in Nice, the victims' families hope that a new trial will shed light on any potential failures by the authorities in securing the Promenade des Anglais. Speaking on franceinfo, their lawyer, Virginie Leroy, stated that the recent acceleration of the investigation represents "new hope" for the families of the 86 victims of the attack.

The victims' families accuse the authorities of failing to adequately anticipate the terrorist threat and of not implementing appropriate security measures, even though nearly 25,000 people attended the Bastille Day fireworks display. According to the lawyer, several requests for investigations, long denied, have finally been granted since the case was transferred to Marseille in 2024.

An investigation has been reopened.

In recent weeks, several police officers have been questioned by investigators, and searches have been carried out at Nice City Hall, the Prefecture, and the premises of the national and municipal police forces. For the victims' families, these new investigations are essential to establishing the conditions under which the security measures were organized on the night of the attack.

Attorney Virginie Leroy is concerned about the time that has passed since the events. She fears that some evidence may have disappeared and warns that if data has been deleted, new complaints could be filed. The lawyer also denounces a lack of transparency in the conduct of the investigation and believes that the families are still waiting for answers regarding potential institutional responsibility.

The families are demanding the whole truth

The civil parties point out, in particular, that several police testimonies mention insufficient security measures on the night of the attack. They also rely on CCTV footage showing the truck used by the terrorist entering a pedestrian zone before driving into the crowd, killing 86 people and injuring more than 450.

For the victims and their families, the goal of this procedure is now to determine whether any errors were made in the security arrangements. They hope that a potential trial will establish individual responsibilities and finally provide the answers they have been waiting for for a decade.