The brother of Strasbourg terror attacker Cherif Chekatt has been convicted in court after threatening to commit an attack of his own.
Malek Chekatt was placed in custody over the weekend after having made threats on Facebook indicating that he may engage in his own attack and appeared in court Monday on charges of “death threats,” France 3 reports.
Chekatt’s first post read, “Tonight I’m at BFM at 18:30 (6:30 pm) precisely. Everything is planned,” and ended the post with the Latin phrase “veni, vedi, vici, “or “I came, I saw, I conquered,” attributed to Julius Caesar.
Source: Facebook
In a second post, he posted a picture of several firearms, including rifles and pistols, writing, “Everything is ready, I ask my contacts to remain silent until 18:30 tonight please.”
The brother of the Strasbourg terrorist has seen run-ins with law enforcement in the past, for “various petty crimes” according to a source within the police.
Appearing in court Monday, Chekatt was found guilty of posting death threats and sentenced to a year in prison, with six months suspended.
During his appearance in court, the 38-year-old, who is not on the French terror watch list, said, “I do not believe in God anymore. I respect Christian values.”
He explained the Facebook post saying he had been triggered by a phone call that had told him his rights to see his son had been restricted. He added that he did not endorse the actions of his late brother.
Terrorist Cherif Chekatt was responsible for the murder of three people at a Christmas arket in Strasbourg in December. Two days after the attack and a nationwide manhunt, he was confronted by police and fatally shot.
Abdelkrim Chekatt, the father of Cherif and Malek, said that 29-year-old Cherif had subscribed to the beliefs of the Islamic State terror group saying, “He’d say, for example, that Daesh, fights for the just cause and all that.”
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