A 24-year-old man, converted to Islam, was sentenced Thursday by the Sables-d'Olonne (Vendée) court to 18 months in prison for apologizing for terrorism on the internet in 2018, the prosecution said.
Read also: Islamism: how investigators track down those who advocate terrorism on the web
“
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison with a simple suspended sentence and socio-judicial follow-up for five years, with a number of obligations and prohibitions.
The facts were committed between January and May 2018 in Challans
”(Vendée), the public prosecutor of Sables-d'Olonne Olivier Couvignou told AFP on Friday, confirming information from
Ouest-France
.
Before his trial Thursday, the respondent was placed under judicial supervision.
According to his lawyer Me Gwénaël Girard, "
his behavior worried the services of the DGSI, which made a note to the prefecture and which made a report to the prosecution
".
“
This is a person who has great psychiatric difficulties: he is not the average person.
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and has already been in a psychiatric hospital
, ”added the lawyer, who had pleaded for his client's release during the trial, stressing that one of the experts had concluded that he“
abolished discernment
”.
“
Today, he is in a moderate approach in the practice of his religion, but that has not always been the case.
In connection with his psychiatric disorder, he had an obsession with this religion at one time
, ”said Mr. Girard, specifying that the incriminated messages had been posted on Facebook.
The law punishes five years' imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros for the defense of terrorism.
This penalty is increased to seven years and a 100,000 euro fine when this offense was committed using an online public communication service.