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| - Seven men and a woman will stand trial in France for alleged links to the perpetrator of the 2016 attack in Nice that killed 86 people when he rammed a truck into Bastille Day revellers. The three main suspects, Mohamed Ghraieb, Chokri Chafroud and Ramzi Arefa, will be prosecuted for "criminal association" with the 31-year-old attacker, Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel. The three, two Tunisians and one French-Tunisian, are accused of having had prior knowledge of an attack, according to the charge sheet seen by AFP on Tuesday. But investigators found no evidence that they had known the exact details of Bouhlel's plan, for which reason they were not charged with the more severe crime of "collusion". Five other people, a Tunisian and four Albanians, will also be in the dock -- on lesser charges related to the procurement of a weapon intended for the attacker, though the investigation found they likely did not know what exactly it was for. Four of the accused are in detention, two are under judicial supervision, and two are on the run. The suspects can appeal the decision to bring them to trial. Without a successful challenge, the trial is set to take place before a special anti-terror criminal court. On July 14, 2016, Bouhlel ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a crowd leaving a fireworks display for France's national day on the Promenade des Anglais, the famous palm-lined street overlooking the Mediterranean. The driver travelled two kilometres (over one mile) through the crowd in the French Riviera city, crashing through barriers and mowing down people in his path. He was shot dead by police. The Islamic State group later claimed Bouhlel as one of its followers. France has seen a string of terror attacks since 2015 that has claimed more than 250 lives. Last month, Nice was targeted afresh when Tunisian migrant Brahim Aouissaoui, 21, killed three people in a knife attack on a church. gd/mlr/jh/mbx
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