The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The day Sid-Ahmed Ghlam, jihad soldier, took action

2020-10-13T16:57:58.427Z


This Algerian student, currently on trial, is accused of having planned an attack on a church in Villejuif and of having murdered Aurélie Châtelain, a 32-year-old mother.


The trial of Sid-Ahmed Ghlam, the Algerian student accused of having planned an attack on a church in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne) and of having murdered a young woman, got to the heart of the matter Tuesday, October 13 with, for the first time, an examination of the facts.

Read also: In France, the delicate monitoring of "children of jihad"

It all started at 8:43 am on April 19, 2015. In a call to Samu, a desperate man announces that a stranger "

of the African type

" shot him in front of his home, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, and injured his thigh , told the Special Assize Court of Paris an investigator from the Criminal Brigade called as a witness.

The injured man was Sid-Ahmed Ghlam.

He was quickly taken to hospital, but investigators quickly realized that something was wrong with the story of the young man, now 29 years old.

The police first noticed traces of blood that lead to his vehicle.

A blue flashing light placed on the bench causes the police to search the car.

Investigators find there a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a Sig-Sauer pistol, a Sphinx pistol and their ammunition.

They also discover a binder containing 27 sheets "

written in French and in Arabic

" which will turn out, once deciphered, a real vade-mecum of the jihadist apprentice.

Read also: A new trial of "family jihad"

The police then went to the university residence of Sid-Ahmed Ghlam.

In his room, they get their hands on three new Kalashnikovs, three bulletproof vests, three tactical vests, three cartridge belts, three yellow police chasubles, but also, folded in a drawer under the bed, a flag in the colors of the group. Islamic State (IS), said the police officer at the bar.

"

Abu Hamza

"

On the same morning of April 19, a lightly burnt car with the body of a young woman inside was found in Villejuif, not far from the Sainte-Thérèse church, another police officer told the court.

The victim's name is Aurélie Châtelain, a 32-year-old mother from the North who came to the Paris region to follow a professional retraining course.

Sitting in the passenger seat, she was killed by a bullet in the thorax.

Nothing was stolen from the vehicle, which led the police to rule out a “

heinous crime

”, said the police officer.

Read also: Strong links and weak links: in the face of Islamism, a divided government

The investigation will quickly reveal that the murder weapon is the Sphinx found earlier in Sid-Ahmed Ghlam's vehicle.

Further analyzes will show the presence of the student's DNA in the vehicle.

Cornered, Sid-Ahmed Ghlam then changes version in front of the police.

He now claims to have shot himself in the thigh so as not to commit the attack he was planning in Villejuif.

He denies having murdered Aurélie Châtelain and blames a certain "

Abou Hamza

" whom he identified, after the attacks of November 13, 2015 (130 dead in total), as being Samy Amimour, one of the attackers of the Bataclan (90 dead ).

The lawyer for the civil parties, Antoine Casubolo-Ferro does not believe this version of the facts.

Instructions to a jihadist

"

After having assassinated Aurélie Châtelain, he simply forgot to put back the safety catch of his weapon and was injured while putting his pistol back in the belt

", affirmed Me Casubolo-Ferro to AFP.

"

He left the scene of the crime and, suffering too much from his injury, he called for help when he got home,

" he added.

"

It takes less than twenty minutes to go from Villejuif to the home of Sid-Ahmed Ghlam, especially on a Sunday morning,

" said a third police officer quoted Tuesday at the bar.

To read also: François d'Orcival: "Against terrorism, an endless war"

The filing cabinet found in Sid-Ahmed Ghlam's vehicle finally convinces investigators that he lied to them.

Its decryption reveals a series of instructions to be followed by a jihadist before, during and after an attack.

These instructions reminded you to properly lock the safety of your weapon, but not to re-lock it after using it.

It's annoying,

”joked Me Casubolo-Ferro in court.

Investigators from the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) claimed that Sid-Ahmed Ghlam, a jihad soldier, had been recruited from Syria by Abdelnasser Benyoucef, alias Abou Mouthana, and his right-hand man Samir Nouad, alias Amirouche, two ISIS cadres presumed dead today in the Iraqi-Syrian zone.

Abdelnasser Benyoucef's widow, Sonia M., incarcerated since her return from Syria, assured the police that her husband had confided to her that she had a role in the failed attack in Villejuif.

She is expected before the special assize court on October 26.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-10-13

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.