ICC Note: As previously reported, an 86-year-old French priest named Jacques Hamel was brutally murdered by Islamic extremists in July. While speaking to the public for the first time since the attack, a witness reported that the attackers forced him to film the murder. The witness was also severely injured during the incident, as he received multiple stab wounds, including one to his throat.

By Carey Lodge

09/29/2016 France (Christian Today) – A witness to the murder of the priest slain by Islamist militants in France was forced to record the brutal incident, he has revealed after speaking publicly for the first time.

Guy Coponet told the Famille Chretienne that the two attackers, Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean, forced him to hold a camera and film them slitting the throat of 86-year-old Father Jacques Hamel.

“They even checked the quality of the image and that I wasn’t trembling too much,” Coponet said. “I had to film the assassination of my friend Father Jacques!”

The assailants were hoping to use the video as Islamist propaganda, “which would allow them to earn their fame as a ‘martyr’ of Allah”, Coponet said.

Both attackers were shot dead at the scene by police.

The incident occurred on July 26 and Copenet was himself stabbed a number of times in the arm, back and throat.

The emergency doctor who treated him said it was a miracle he survived. “There was a divine hand on you because no shots have hit a vital organ,” the medic said. “But it really was not far away… It’s like a miracle.”

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