Accused of driving in the car on police officers Monday in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine), Youssef T. must be presented Friday to an examining magistrate for an examination for attempted assassinations " related with a terrorist enterprise . "
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According to sources close to the investigation, this 29-year-old Frenchman, animated by an anti-Western ideology and having pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group, assumed " totally his act " which he would have committed alone.
Started on Monday, his police custody was lifted " Friday morning ", said a judicial source to AFP. After his referral to the prosecution, a judicial investigation was opened " for attempted assassination on persons depositing public authority in relation to a terrorist enterprise " His indictment and his placement in pre-trial detention were requested by the antiterrorism prosecution , added this source.
On Monday, around 5:00 p.m., driving a BMW, this man unknown to the anti-terrorist services had violently struck two bikers of the national police who controlled a car, seriously injuring their legs, and more lightly hit a municipal police officer. The two bikers had to be hospitalized but their days are not in danger.
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A letter of allegiance to IS and a knife were found in the suspect's car and the National Counter-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (Pnat) seized the facts Tuesday after a psychiatric examination by the suspect ruled out any abolition or impaired discernment. According to a press release from the Pnat, the suspect explained that he wanted to go "head on in the battle to impose sharia on the whole Earth ". According to a source close to the investigation, we find in " the exploitation of its digital media " seized during a search " an interest in the Islamic State as well as terrorism in general. "
"Very lonely"
According to another source close to the investigation, " this is not an unbalanced profile " but that of someone " very lonely " who " fully assumes his act " and considers himself a " warrior " who avoids target " civilians ". “ It has been focused on anti-Western discourse for 10 or 12 years. It follows geopolitical subjects. It is not of a high intellectual level but it follows the situation in Palestine, in the Sahel, "added this source.
" As it stands, he seems to have acted alone, " according to one of these sources. The preliminary investigation had notably been opened for “ terrorist criminal association ”, which suggested possible accomplices, but this count has not yet been retained in the judicial information.
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Known for " old common law facts ", Youssef T. had been the subject of a recall to the law for contempt of agent in 2014, according to the prosecutor of Nanterre Catherine Denis, who carried out the first investigations before the referral of the Pnat. The man was " not on file S " for radicalization, according to the anti-terrorist prosecutor's office. His neighbors described to AFP a man " calm " and without " problem ".
The investigations are coordinated by the criminal brigade, now with the support of the Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI). While photos of the suspect in police custody were posted on social networks, his lawyer told AFP to file a complaint for violation of the secrecy of the investigation, the right to presumption of innocence and the right to respect of privacy.
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Since 2015, France has lived under the constant threat of jihadist attacks, which have left a total of 258 dead. Since the beginning of the year, the anti-terrorist justice has seized two attacks, in the two cases perpetrated by men whose psychiatric profile raises questions.
On January 3 in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne), a young man converted to Islam and suffering from psychiatric disorders had attacked walkers with a knife, leaving one dead and two injured, before being shot by the police. The anti-terrorist prosecutor's office also took up the knife attack of April 4 in Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme). Abdallah Ahmed-Osman, a 33-year-old Sudanese refugee with confused statements, stabbed several passers-by that day, killing two and injuring five.
