Lyon Bombing: Mohamed Medjdoub Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

On Monday, April 7, 2025, the special assize court in Paris sentenced Mohamed Medjdoub to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 22 years. The 29-year-old was found guilty of attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, after planting a homemade bomb in a pedestrian street in Lyon on May 24, 2019 — just two days before the European elections.

The explosive device, hidden in a paper bag outside a bakery, contained TATP — a homemade explosive — along with over 270 metal balls and screws. The blast injured around fifteen people, including a 10-year-old girl.

During questioning, Medjdoub claimed that his intention was to spread fear and influence the elections in favor of the far right, hoping that such a shift would spark civil unrest. The prosecutor dismissed this explanation, insisting that the real objective was to kill, and stating that it was only by chance that the attack did not cause fatalities.

Medjdoub remained silent throughout the trial, breaking his silence only on the final day to defiantly claim responsibility for the attack and express no remorse. “My conscience is clear,” he said, adding that as “a Muslim, an Arab, and above all, an Algerian,” he had no moral lessons to receive from the French. He concluded by repeating: “I am not a coward.”

Described by experts as narcissistic and dangerous, Medjdoub, an Algerian national without legal residency, will be permanently expelled from French territory once his sentence is served.