World News Live Updates: French jihadist linked to Charlie Hebdo attackers faces verdict
A French suspected jihadist close to the brothers behind the 2015 massacre at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was set Thursday to hear his verdict on terror charges.
Peter Cherif, 42, has been on trial since mid-September for “belonging to a criminal terrorist association” while fighting for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen from 2011 to 2018.
During that time he is suspected of training his Paris childhood friend Cherif Kouachi, who along with his brother Said perpetrated the January 7, 2015 massacre at Charlie Hebdo’s offices in the French capital — for which AQAP later claimed responsibility.
The first of a string of attacks carried out by radical Islamists that hit France in the late 2010s, the 12 killings shocked the world and led to an international outpouring of political and popular support under the motto “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”).
Peter Cherif is also accused of being part of a criminal gang that held three French aid workers hostage for five months in Yemen in 2011.
Prosecutors asked the court Wednesday to sentence him to life in prison, with no possibility of release before 22 years.
The accused declined to answer questions throughout most of the trial.
This article was originally published by a timesofindia.indiatimes.com . Read the Original article here. .