Summary

Zaheer Mahmood, 29, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempting to murder two people with a meat cleaver outside Charlie Hebdo’s former Paris office in 2020.

Influenced by radical Pakistani preacher Khadim Hussain Rizvi, Mahmood attacked two Premieres Lignes employees, mistaking the office for Charlie Hebdo’s, which had relocated after the 2015 al-Qaeda attack.

Five accomplices were jailed for supporting Mahmood. The victims, who suffered severe injuries, rejected Mahmood’s apology.

Mahmood, an illegal immigrant to France since 2017, was also convicted of terrorist conspiracy.