From Occitania to Syria, the descent into hell of a young couple

This Thursday, June 18, the second day of the trial of Sébastien A. for “criminal terrorist criminal association” was punctuated by the testimony of relatives or former relatives of the 30-something. The hearing of Halima B., the former partner of Sébastien A., was particularly expected. The accused claims to have left for Syria in August 2014 to " recover " the one who was then his religious wife and who had joined a member of the Islamic State with whom she was chatting on the internet.

Read also: He had gone to Syria "out of love": a convert to Islam before the courts

Through the six hearings of the day, the special assize court in Paris delves into the history of the couple. " My brother was crazy in love with Halima, " remembers David, Sébastien A's brother. " After meeting her, Sébastien stopped drinking, I found him to be more serious, " says the mother of the accused. For her part, Halima B.'s mother describes the young man as " someone good, kind, respectful ". She claims that she did not encourage the latter to convert, but that for her husband, "it was a little hard " to see her daughter in a relationship with an atheist. What Sébastien A. confirms: " The mother pushed the father to accept, she was always nice to me ".

The native of Montauban converted and the two young people married religiously. Little by little, they switch to radical Islam. " We brainwashed each other, " says Halima B. A turning point that the father of the young woman is having a very hard time, who cannot bear to see her daughter dressed as a " crow " and rejects " these salafs of m **** " Sébastien A. is spending more and more time at the mosque; Halima B. dives into the social networks and propaganda sites of the Islamic State, on which she meets Abu Moussa, a Frenchman who left for Syria. On July 30, 2014, " the sky falls on the head " of Sébastien A. when he understands that his spouse has left Castres to join this man. " I was unhappy in my life, I found comfort in these people ," says Halima B.

"In the area", disillusionment

The accused also feels partially responsible for the departure of his religious wife. " I don't know what happened in his head, but perhaps I was not attentive enough to her ... " He then decides to go to Syria " to recover it ". He in turn left France on August 13, 2014, joined Daesh, was religiously and militarily trained and then sent to fight. " He told me that it was crazy, that they were all crazy, " said his brother David. " There, there are severed heads on spikes everywhere, " explained Sébastien A. at the hearing on Wednesday. Thinking that Halima B. is dead, he volunteers for a suicide mission, which is finally canceled.

For her part, Halima B. tells of having lived "hell" in Syria. " I was raped by several men, " she said, crying at the hearing - in the box, her former companion is also in tears. At the end of October, she managed to leave Syria. " Abou Moussa trusted me, he thought I was going to come back, " says the young woman. When her daughter returns, Halima B.'s mother finds that she has “ lost a lot of weight ” and that she refuses to talk about her stay in Syria. A few weeks later, having learned that his wife is safe and sound, Sébastien A. returns in turn. The couple resettles together and in May 2015, the young woman gives birth to a baby boy, to whom Sébastien A. is very attached.

The couple now separated

It was not until March 2016 that the spouses were arrested and placed in police custody. After more than fifteen hours of hearing, Halima B. declares for the first time that she has been kidnapped and raped in Syria, while Sébastien A. assures that he was able to return to France after having proposed to Daesh to commit an attack on French soil. Halima B. is ultimately not prosecuted - for a reason that the Advocate General promised to reveal during his indictment - while Sébastien A. is placed under investigation and placed in pre-trial detention. At first, the couple stays together, then the young woman leaves her husband and starts a new life with another man " who is not a Muslim ", she specifies, before adding that she " feels very guilty may Sébastien be in prison ”.

Today, Sébastien A. writes regularly to Halima B., hoping "to keep a good understanding with her in relation to [his] son ", but receives only " little news " in return. After his release from prison - he faces 20 years in prison - he plans to " work, buy a house, help [his] parents ". And above all, reconnect with his son, who has autism. " I love him, I miss him, " he slips in a voice strangled by emotion. An idyllic picture that does little to convince the Advocate General. The latter thus stressed Wednesday that a report from the evaluation district of the radicalization of Fleury-Mérogis dating from 2017 " did not let appear any sign of disengagement " from the jihadist ideology in Sébastien A. Verdict Friday.