Suspect's lawyer criticizes new film based on Thalys train attack

The lawyer for the suspect in an attempted terrorist attack in 2015 has spoken out against a film based on the incident by Clint Eastwood.

The film “The 15:17 to Paris” is based on what happened on board a Thalys express train headed to Paris when a gunman tried to attack passengers in August 2015.

The three Americans who foiled the attack star as themselves in the film, which retells how the childhood friends from California overpowered a Moroccan jihadist armed with an AK-47 on the Paris-bound high-speed service from Amsterdam carrying more than 500 passengers.

Heroes Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler, and Spencer Stone arrive at the premiere of Warner Bros.

However, a lawyer for the suspect Ayoub El-Khazzani, has asked for showings of the film to be suspended, and the evidence is still being reviewed by a judge.

According to BBC, the lawyer, Sarah Mauger-Poliak, said the film has violated her client’s rights for presenting a “fictionalized and one-sided” view to the public as fact.

"That Hollywood has delivered its 'truth' before the judges is at the very least worrying," Sarah Mauger-Poliak told French radio.

Director Clint Eastwood arrives for the Premiere Of Warner Bros.

Eastwood's last two films – Sully and American Sniper – were also about real-life heroes, but this is the first time he has used the real protagonists to play themselves.

He said he wanted to "make people aware that they have the strength to do (extraordinary) things themselves."

"There could have been a lot of people killed, (the attacker) had a lot of ammunition, he had a very reliable gun," Eastwood added.

(AFP)