The special assize court of Paris condemned Friday, April 15 on appeal two men, suspected of having wanted to commit "
a mass killing
" in Paris, to sentences of 24 and 30 years of criminal imprisonment, thus confirming the judgment of first case.
Read alsoKill in Paris, explosion in Marseille: how the police train and prepare for the specter of a mass attack
Yassine Bousseria, 42, was found guilty of participating in a terrorist conspiracy with a view to preparing terrorist acts and was sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment with a two-thirds security period while that the Moroccan Hicham El-Hanafi, 31, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum provided for by law, together with a two-thirds security sentence.
The Advocate General had requested Thursday 30 years of imprisonment against Hicham El-Hanafi, described as "
genius of terrorism
" and 25 years of imprisonment against the Strasbourg resident Yassine Bousseria.
A third man sentenced at first instance
"
I made mistakes, I recognize what I did but I would like to have the hope of having hope
," Yassine Bousseria had asked the court before she retired to deliberate.
Hicham El-Hanafi repeated that he had never intended to commit attacks.
“
All I want is to find my family and return to Morocco
” once his sentence has been served.
“
Yes, Yassine Bousseria wanted to go to Syria but it was to fight there, not here
”, argued his lawyer Me Camille Le Gall.
“
He is not a danger
,” she insisted.
Read alsoThree jihadists heavily sentenced in Paris for planning a “mass killing”
In prison, Yassine Bousseria is not in solitary confinement and can work in a workshop, which, according to his lawyer, is the sign of a prisoner who is not considered to be at risk.
"
You have to give him a chance to have a life after
," she said.
One of Hicham El-Hanafi's lawyers, Me Foucauld Prache maintained that his client had "
never planned to commit an attack in France or elsewhere
".
"
We want him to wear a suit that's way too big for him
," he said.
A third man tried alongside them at first instance, Hicham Makran, a friend of Yassine Bousseria, had been sentenced to 22 years in prison but had not appealed.