Tunisia Bardo museum terror attack trial opens

TWO dozen people, including two women, have gone on trial for their alleged roles in the 2015 attack on Tunisia’s Bardo National Museum that killed 21 foreign tourists, including one Briton, and a police officer.

The March 18 2015 attack on the famed museum outside Tunis was the opening salvo in a series of assaults in this North African country, including the killing of 38 people, mostly British tourists, at a beach hotel. All were claimed by the Islamic State group.

The two museum attackers, who authorities said trained in a camp in neighbouring Libya, were killed by security forces, but a lengthy investigation uncovered a network of helpers who allegedly provided direct or indirect support for the operation.

A dozen of those on trial could face death sentences if convicted of playing an active role in the attack.

They are charged with voluntary homicide with premeditation.

Two women were among the accused in court with their faces uncovered.

Some critics have contended that the lengthy investigation got off to a false start, with numerous people arrested but then freed later.

Judge Bachir Akremi wrote in his report that confessions obtained at the start of the investigation were obtained by torture, and some accusations against the suspects were “imaginary”.

Lawyer Samir Ben Amor contends that if police “had done their job correctly from the start, the attack at the Sousse (beach hotel) could have been avoided”.

“Numerous people among those who prepared and planned it are the same ones implicated in the Bardo attack,” he said.