“
Yes, today I still have the feeling of having accomplished my duty
.
It is rare to hear such words from the mouth of a defendant in a trial for an Islamist attack.
And even less when said accused loose:
"Merah, Coulibaly, Kouachi, they are brothers, martyrs, mujahedin who carried out reprisals."
Read also:
From al-Qaida to Daesh, France remains in the sights of radical Islamism
Let it be said, Farid Ikken, 43, tried for attacking three police officers with a hammer on June 6, 2017 on the forecourt of Notre-Dame de Paris, acted
"in support of the Islamic State"
.
This frail little man, with a thin voice and sparse beard, gives off an impression of suppressed violence.
With his chin raised, the former journalist and doctoral student in communication sciences at the University of Metz sometimes looks like a professor.
"See also - Police officers attacked with hammers in 2017: the trial of Farid Ikken has opened
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Farid Ikken traced without great difficulty the course which brought him from his studies to the attack.
Algerian, he lived for ten years in Sweden where he obtained a diploma in journalism.
He returned in 2011 to his native Kabylia.
Then, apply to the University of Lorraine.
Admitted, he arrived in France in March 2014, obtained a residence permit and moved into a student residence.
Without apparent difficulties.
In fact, Farid Ikken is wracked by a feeling of frustration towards a France where Muslims are "
crushed
".
Me and those who think like me rightly claim our right to re-immigrate to the land of Islam
Farid Ikken
Initially an atheist, he re-Islamized.
According to his nephew, on his return to Algeria, he adopted a “
more rigorous” practice
.
As for his adherence to the theses of Daesh, the accused dates it to the summer of 2015. He thinks of leaving for Syria
“to teach”
.
But remains in France because of
"the penalty for departures"
.
Lawyer of one of the police officers but also of Fenvac, Me Thibault de Montbrial questions him: “
This France, where we“ crush ”Muslims, welcomed you.
You say you couldn't go to Syria, but why not go back to Algeria? ”
Response of the accused:
“I and those who think like me are justly claiming our right to re-immigrate to the land of Islam
.
"
Figure it.
During 2016, Farid Ikken went from frustration to anger.
He said he was
“disturbed”
by watching videos of coalition bombing in the Syrian-Iraqi area.
Always worked to believe him by his plans to leave for Syria, he decides to act in France
"in support of the Islamic State"
, because they are
"good people who defend their homeland
".
Farid Ikken thus passes to
"direct action"
, it is his term, June 6, 2017 with a hammer with a length of 30 cm and two knives on him (he will hesitate between hammer and knives until the last moment) .
By targeting police officers for the symbol.
And this is where Farid Ikken's story takes an unexpected turn: Daesh's companion, autoradicalized and without accomplices, denies being an Islamist terrorist.
Propaganda in his possession?
The fruit of his work as a researcher and journalist.
The "combat manual of the soldier of the caliphate in the land of the Franks", of which he is the author according to the accusation, and where one can read
"my brothers, the time of vengeance has arrived"
?
A find on an
"ephemeral"
jihadist site
.
His contacts with Islamists on Telegram where he announces his action?
His account has been
"hacked"
by a stranger.
The attempted homicide against one of the three policemen?
He had no
"intention of killing him"
by striking a hammer blow on his head with such force that, on the video of the incident, his two feet lifted off the ground.
“I hit softly,” he
says.
To read also:
Notre-Dame-de-Paris: the attacked police officer confides
The three policemen give a completely different version: the official attacked in the back only escaped a blow to the head because his colleague shouted "attention!"
and that he tucked in his neck, the hammer hitting behind the left ear.
And a second shot was only avoided because his other colleague shot the terrorist.
Without his two professional reactions, it is likely that Farid Ikken's "direct action" would have ended in death or serious injury.
"See also -" 32 attacks "have been thwarted for three years announces Gérald Darmanin
"32 attacks" have been thwarted for three years, announces Gérald Darmanin - Watch on Figaro Live
