Moroccan Couple on Trial for 2016 Magnanville Police Killings in Paris Court

On June 13, 2016, Larossi Abballa killed Jean-Baptiste Salvaing, 42, deputy police commissioner of the Mureaux police station (Yvelines), and his partner Jessica Schneider, 36, an administrative officer in a neighboring police station, in their Magnanville (Yvelines) home, in front of their 3-year-old son, before being shot dead by the police trying to free the child he was holding hostage. 6 years later, a trial of the attack opened on Monday before the specially constituted Assize Court in Paris, reports the website actu-juridique.fr. The Moroccan Mohamed Lamine Aberouz, 30, whose DNA was found on the wrist rest of the victims’ laptop, would be the accomplice of the assailant. The sole accused in the dock, he is being tried for "complicity in the murder of a person holding public authority", "criminal terrorist conspiracy" and "complicity in kidnapping in connection with a terrorist enterprise". He does not suffer from any pathology, according to the experts. However, he believes that "one cannot live one’s (Muslim) religion properly in France."

What was most moving during the hearing in the evening was not Aberouz’s profile. It was rather the fact that the accused and his wife, invited to testify under oath - which she declined - were meeting for the very first time. At the stand, J.C. claims that the Moroccan is her partner and that they were religiously married on June 20, 2021. She had not seen him before marrying him. "We were in prison," confides the 25-year-old woman. Convicted in 2020 to 7 years in prison for preparing terrorist acts, this native of Troyes was released from prison on September 14 and resides in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. "How do you get married without meeting each other?" the president asks her. "I don’t have to explain. We get married, that’s it," the witness replies. The president continues: "What does marriage mean to you?" "I don’t understand your question," the young woman responds. "Is this the first time you’ve seen your husband?" the president asks her. She answers in the affirmative. "Did you choose this man because he corresponds to your beliefs?" She refuses to answer this question.

At the end of the hearing, Aberouz asks to intervene. "Only for one question," the president specifies, "you’ll have all the time tomorrow to explain yourself." He turns to his wife, completely covered in veils. "Can I count on your support?" he asks her. "Yes," she answers, smiling. "You know how much I love you," he tells her. His wife nods: "Yes." End of the conversation. The wife leaves the room. The trial continues until October 10. The Moroccan faces life imprisonment.