Thirty years in prison. This is the sentence to which Tyler Vilus, a figure of French jihadism, was sentenced by the specially composed assize court on Friday 3 July. A more lenient sentence than that requested by the Advocate General, who had requested life imprisonment. The national anti-terrorist prosecution therefore decided to appeal, thus paving the way for a new trial of the young man.
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During his trial, Tyler Vilus, 30, was portrayed as a "full jihadist" by the prosecution. The one who grew up in Troyes (Aube) first came to Syria in late 2012, before settling there in March 2013. On the spot, he became a "recruiter" , "combatant" and "member of the IS police . A video broadcast at the hearing showed him standing next to the executioners of two prisoners, coldly shot in the head.
"Die with arms in hand"
The son of "Mamie Djihad", sentenced to ten years in prison on appeal in 2018, knew almost the entire French-speaking jihadist sphere. He was in particular in contact with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the November 13 attacks. If there is no evidence to link Tyler Vilus to these attacks, the Advocate General considered that the latter had decided to leave Syria in the summer of 2015 to "strike" on French soil. The magistrate did not hesitate to request perpetuity.
After vigorously denying it, Tyler Vilus finally admitted at the end of the hearing that he had the plan to "die with weapons in hand" . At the time of the verdict, the president of the special assize court of Paris estimated that the accused had "recognized a very important element" . He stressed that by imposing a sentence of 30 years in prison and not life, the court wanted to "leave a ray of hope" to the young man so that he can " evolve".