French prosecutor calls for a review of investigation into Nice terror attack

The public prosecutor in Nice has asked judges to reassess the investigation into the truck-ramming attack that killed 86 people during national holiday celebrations in the southern French city on 14 July, 2016. He pointed to "negligence" in the security plans and has called for a reclassification of the offences under "involuntary homicides and injuries".

In this Monday July 18, 2016 file photo, people look at flowers placed on the Promenade des Anglais at the scene of a truck attack. © AP Photo/Claude Paris

"For more than six years, the investigations carried out by the magistrates revealed failures and a series of shortcomings that were likely to have directly contributed to the Nice attack," public prosecutor of Nice, Xavier Bonhomme stated in a court document cited by Le Parisien newspaper on Wednesday.

Bonhomme said it was important "to determine with more precision the nature of the security plan" put in place on the Promenade des Anglais on the evening of 14 July, 2016 when the terrorist threat was known "or feared", and in particular the possibility of an attack by a vehicle.

In light of "the reality of these new elements", he said the offences should be reclassified as "involuntary homicides and injuries by clumsiness, recklessness, inattention, negligence or breach of an obligation of safety or prudence imposed by law".

The investigation was initially opened for "endangering the lives of others".

The prosecutor's request is part of a second investigation into the tragedy, aimed at understanding how the attack could have occurred.

On the evening of 14 July, 2016, as thousands gathered on the Promenade des Anglais in central Nice to watch the annual fireworks, a truck drove into the crowd, killing 86 and injuring more than 400. Of them, 33 were foreign citizens and 15 were children.

A trial held in December 2022, that focused on the terrorism aspect of the investigation, saw jail terms ranging from two to 18 years handed down to all eight suspects.

The truck driver was gunned down by police at the scene.

Request for further hearings, documents

In 2017, a second investigation was opened based on a complaint filed by several civil parties who accused public authorities of "endangering the lives of others".

They pointed to dysfunctions in the security organisation of the National Day Prom-Party where 30,000 people were expected.

In this investigation, four people were placed under the status of assisted witness including Christian Estrosi, current mayor of Nice who held the position of deputy in 2016.

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Bonhomme's prosecution team has also requested the hearings of 60 national and municipal police officers and crews who were stationed at certain crossroads in the city on the night of the attack.

He has also asked that the annexes of the special security IGPN report, the 2016 terrorist risk analysis report commissioned by the City of Nice, and the copy of all the video surveillance images from 14 July be added to the investigation file.

Virginie Le Roy, the lawyer for the Promenade des Anges victims' association, welcomed the additional indictment from the prosecutor.

Victims' need for truth

"It meets the victims' need for truth," she told public media Franceinfo on Wednesday.

She pointed to "the glaring inadequacy of the logistical, material and human security resources deployed at the Prom-Party".

Le Roy says she expects that the new investigations will "finally allow, more than seven years after the attack, to obtain precise and concrete answers, indictments and the holding of a trial that is now unavoidable".

It is now up to the three investigating judges to decide.

The legal development comes less that a week after victims' families gathered on the Promenade des Anglais to pay tribute to those who lost their lives.