The Franco-Syrian imam Bassam Ayachi, a figure of Belgian Islamism, was sentenced in Paris to five years in prison, including one year in prison for terrorist criminal association, the court considering that he had indeed been an "
informant
" secret service.
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Considered in Belgium as a veteran of radical Islamism, the 75-year-old sheikh was tried in April in the French capital for his activities in Syria, in the Idlib region, between 2014 and 2018. The court estimated that he had indeed belonged at the time to a “
terrorist
” group, Ahrar al-Sham, for which he headed the “
public relations office
” in Idlib.
A video from March 2015 shows Bassam Ayachi "
entering Idlib like a warlord
", he "
gives instructions
" then "
poses behind a banner of the al-Nusra Front
", then affiliated with al-Qaeda, underlined the president in rendering the decision, adding that he had also "
federated military groups
" and "
rendered justice
”.
“Rendered real services to France”
“
It is undeniable that Bassam Ayachi provided information to the Belgian and French services
”, also underlined the magistrate.
However, “
this situation does not make the offense disappear
”: “
French law does not provide for any exemption for the police informant
”.
The court nevertheless decided to "
take it into account
", noting that the "
refusal of declassification
" during the investigation of secret-defence documents by the French Ministry of the Armed Forces "
must not be detrimental to it
" because "
it cannot be ruled out that he rendered real services to France
".
Opposed to IS, the imam, who lost an arm in Syria, was absent when the decision was delivered.
During the trial, he had condemned the “
terrorist bastards
” and maintained that he had “
served (his) people in Syria and preserved (his) people in France
”.
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A French jihadist who was his bodyguard, Hachimi M., was sentenced to ten years in prison for having "
integrated Ahrar al-Sham
" and an "
al-Nusra sniper unit
", but without a security period because of "
the lack of persistence of his radicalization
".
This 33-year-old computer engineer claimed to have left for humanitarian reasons and to have acted on behalf of Bassam Ayachi.
On the contrary, the court considered that he was "
animated by a Qaïdist ideology
" (linked to Al-Qaïda) and that the "
motive
" of the espionage was, in his case, "
not credible
".
Lawyers for the two defendants declined to comment.
They have the ability to appeal.
