Jean-Luc Mélenchon did not mince his words this Sunday, Place de la République in Paris, on the sidelines of the demonstration in tribute to Samuel Paty, history professor murdered Friday by an Islamist terrorist.
The leader of France Insoumise openly deplored that France had welcomed "Chechens in favor of a civil war, against a background of religion".
The deputy continued in the same tone: “The last time, there were 150 of them to terrorize an entire city.
There it is one which beheads a teacher.
We must ask ourselves what they are doing, ”hammered the former presidential candidate recalling the serious incidents in Dijon this year.
This reaction did not fail to make the Chechen community react, also in shock, after the monstrous act of one of its members, Abdoullak Anzorov, only 18 years old, arrived in France in 2008 via Poland.
The family made several stays in social hotels before settling in Évreux.
According to our information, his parents "without history" have never been the subject of any report to the associations which have managed their refugee journey.
Abdoullak Anzorov if he had been implicated for a few minor offenses in 2015, 2017, and 2018, was not registered in the criminal record processing file (TAJ) and even less present in the file of reports for prevention terrorist radicalization (FSPRT), according to several police sources.
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"We have been working hard against extremist Islamism since 2018"
"We published a press release that very evening to condemn this dreadful attack and ask as many people as possible not to put everyone in the same bag", tells us Shamil Albakov, representative of the Assembly of Chechens in Europe. .
“Mélenchon almost accused us of having put the knife in this young man's hand.
It is a shameful lie.
We wrote an open letter to the president, recalling that we have been carrying out hard work against extremist Islamism since 2018 ”, underlines this Chechen living in Alsace.
"In our understanding of Islam, there is no conflict between the law of the Republic and our religion," says the spokesperson.
In May 2018, Khamzat Azimov, 20, tragically highlighted the links between some Muslim Chechens and the Islamist movement.
This young man had stabbed five people - including one fatally - before being shot dead by police in Paris in the Opera district.
A few days later, many members of the community gathered in Paris to denounce the actions of the young terrorist.
This will also be the case this Monday evening when a silent march is organized by Chechens in Nice to condemn this terrorist act.
This second fatal attack illustrates for some the difficulty of monitoring the “Chechen community” by the authorities.
It is impossible to know precisely their number, some sources mentioning 30,000 to 40,000 people in the territory, others up to 75,000 people mainly settled in the Paris region, Strasbourg, Nice or Le Mans.
"For the majority, the community poses few problems on a daily basis"
First difficulty for the French services, the Chechen nationality does not exist legally.
They are in fact refugees of Russian nationality.
As of December 31, 2019, 16,120 Russian nationals (excluded children) were placed under Ofpra protection in our territory.
Caucasians, and among them the Chechens, represent the majority.
"For the majority, the community poses few problems on a daily basis", explained a connoisseur of the file last June at Le Figaro.
Recent initiatives, such as in Melun where Chechen “guardian angels” watch over the northern districts in the evening, have helped to change the image that the community can have with the general public.
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How to explain this imaginary warrior, today rejected by the community?
“The Chechens always speak out against terrorist acts committed by a member of their community.
We never remain silent in the face of the gesture of an extremist.
When a Chechen does something good, we are all proud, and when he has done something bad, we are all ashamed ”, confides Heda Inderbaeva, specialist in international relations, Chechen of origin living in France.
“Regarding radicalization, these acts were committed by young people, not by ex-combatants in Chechnya.
They became radicalized in France, ”regrets the young woman.
“Our reputation as violent people that sticks to our skin reminds us of how Russia demonized us a lot.
Those who fled the war brought their children to France hoping they would have a better life, ”she says.
3% of radicalized registered
Police reality means that this integrated community is in any case very closely watched.
300 individuals from the North Caucasian community (mainly Chechens, but also with Ingush, Dagestanese, etc.) are registered in the file of alerts for the prevention of terrorist radicalization, which has some 10,000 active files, which represents 3% of this file.
The community also denounces the amalgamation which is sometimes made with "false Chechens".
“The community is well integrated but with what is happening, we wonder, we have the impression that there is a desire to find a culprit.
We are looking for a scapegoat and it is easier to target us because we do not really represent a real political counter-power (Editor's note, in terms of votes), ”Heda Inderbaeva still analyzes.
VIDEO. Tribute to Samuel Paty: "We are here to show that we are not afraid"
