A man was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a French court on Wednesday for his role in plotting the deadly shooting at a Strasbourg Christmas market nearly six years ago, an attack that left five people dead and 11 others injured.
Audrey Mondjehi, 42, was convicted on charges of murder and terrorism for helping Islamic State militant Cherif Chekatt orchestrate the attack in Dec. 2018. Although Chekatt was killed in the ensuing manhunt, Mondjehi and three other defendants stood trial for their roles in the plot.
Prosecutors said Mondjehi, Chekatt’s former cellmate, was the most instrumental to the plan as he helped the militant obtain the gun used in the mass shooting. Chekatt was a convicted criminal on France’s terrorism watchlist, and prosecutors alleged Mondjehi helped him navigate around those barriers to surreptitiously carry out the attack.
In his final statement to the court before sentencing on Thursday, Mondjehi said he regretted what he had done.
“I think deeply and feel a lot of sadness for all the victims. All my life I will regret what happened,” he said. “I would never have thought that [Chekatt] would have done that, I never thought that he was radicalized.”
That didn’t stop the court from handing down the three-decade sentence, as the prosecution had requested.
