" The lies before the war in Iraq have structured my way of thinking ": Reda Hame, recruited in 2015 in Syria by one of the organizers of the attacks of November 13, presented himself at the assizes Friday February 21 as " a conspirator Much more than like a radicalized Muslim.
Reda Hame, arrested in August 2015 after his return from Syria, faces 20 years of imprisonment. Trained in Raqqa by Abdelhamid Abaaoud, one of the brains of the jihadist attacks of November 13, he is suspected of having wanted to carry out an attack, which he denies.
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The special assize court looked into the personality of this 34-year-old former computer technician on Friday.
“ The lies before the war in Iraq structured my thinking. (...) This is where my conspiracy was born, "he said. And to continue: “ September 11 is a horrible crime. But Al Qaeda or not? We do not know. (...) Americans are capable of killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Iraq, why not 3,000 in the United States? They may have killed them to start a war . ”
" The conspiracy theory on September 11 is unfortunately widespread on social networks, " deplored his lawyer Archibald Celeyron.
Reda Hame says she left for Syria for " three reasons ": he was " a little lost " after a breakup, had lost his job and wanted to find his Moroccan cousin who had disappeared. This practicing Muslim, who says prayers, Ramadan and reads the Koran, took care not to present himself as a radicalized Muslim. Upon his return from Syria in the weeks before his arrest, he found his girlfriend who testified on Friday morning. Together, they had started to resume " a normal life " with outings in the evening, shopping on the Champs-Élysées during the day.
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Until 2014, Reda Hame held several jobs, but also " abandoned three jobs" after disputes with her managers. With the Islamic State organization too, " I gave up my post, " he told the court. After eight days in Syria, he says he pretended to accept the mission to carry out an attack only to return to France.
He has been in pre-trial detention for four and a half years. "To date, it does not seem to present an adherence to a violent ideology or that there is a risk of taking action ", indicates his detention report, very positive.
" I am punishing a murderer when I have done nothing at all, " criticized the accused, who will be heard on Monday on the facts.