Suspended prison sentences of 10 months to three years were handed down on Friday against a transfer of funds to members of the Islamic State group for having notably transferred funds to members of the Islamic State (IS) group, according to them to help them to leave the
“caliphate”
and surrender.
The heaviest sentence, three years' imprisonment with a simple suspended sentence, targets former lawyer Bruno V., 50 years old.
In January, the public prosecutor requested a five-year suspended prison sentence against him.
Bruno V. admitted to having participated in the corruption of an Iraqi army officer to try, in vain, to spare the life of jihadist Maximilien Thibaut during the battle of Mosul in Iraq in 2017, according to him so that he surrenders.
The ex-lawyer admits corruption, but rejects accusations of financing terrorism.
The court found him guilty of financing but acquitted him on the charge of terrorist criminal association.
He sentenced him to a joint customs fine of 10,000 euros, a fine requested by customs and to be paid with the two accused journalists.
“Out of the box” to “save lives”
The latter, Edith B., 43 years old, and Céline M., 44 years old, were also sentenced respectively to 10 and 12 months of imprisonment with simple suspension, on the line of the sentences requested by the prosecutor.
Authors of an investigative book on French women who joined ISIS, they are on trial for having transferred funds in order to pay smugglers to
"exfiltrate"
several women from Syria or Iraq, and for having taken part in the Failed rescue operation of Maximilien Thibaut.
Before the court, Edith B. and Céline M. admitted to having
“gone outside the scope”
of their profession, but maintained that they had acted out of
“humanity”
, to
“save lives”
.
On Friday, both said they were
“shocked by the severity of a judgment that they do not understand”
and expressed the
“feeling of not having been heard”
.
“There is definitely a gulf between the reality on the ground and what justice believes it can do
,” they react in a written message, affirming
“never to have financed terrorism”
which they fight
“every day in their profession »
.
They plan to appeal the decision, indicated their lawyer Me Marie Dosé.
Three other defendants were prosecuted in this case, two mothers and the stepfather of young converted and radicalized French people who left to join ISIS in Syria.
They were accused of having sent several thousand euros to their children, to meet their needs according to them, between 2014 and 2017. The two mothers were also tried for having embezzled the funds of associations of parents in distress, which they had founded.
Valérie B. was sentenced to two years in prison with a simple suspended sentence and a fine of 20,000 euros, Anne S. was sentenced to one year in prison with a simple suspended sentence and a fine of 3,000 euros.