What was he doing in France? Majdi Mustafa Nema, a 31-year-old Syrian arrested by the gendarmes for “war crimes”, “torture” and “complicity in enforced disappearances” in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), Wednesday January 29, lived in the city center , in the Noailles district, where he shared a modest shared apartment. He was a student at Marseille-Provence University as part of an Erasmus exchange program.
The investigation seeks to trace its course. The investigations, carried out by the crime against humanity unit of the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office and the Central Office for combating crimes against humanity, genocides and war crimes are oriented towards his numerous contacts, the conditions of his entered France and travels to Europe, especially Italy. Majdi Mustafa Nema was in a regular situation in France: he had obtained a Schengen visa (European Union security area) issued by the French consulate in Istanbul (Turkey).
Former deserter officer from the army of Bashar al-Assad
The ex-combatant is however far from being an unknown for Western services. From the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011, this former deserting officer from the army of Bashar al-Assad had joined the rebels of the radical Islamist group Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam).
Its 20,000 or so combatants held an iron fist, under the sharia regime, Islamic law, the district of eastern Ghouta, the great suburb of Damascus. They are suspected of having kidnapped and tortured four human rights defenders, including the icon of the Syrian revolution Razan Zaitouneh. Victims presumed dead, but whose bodies have never been found.
Under the war name of “Islam Alloush”, Nema had established herself as a spokesperson for the organization and according to a witness quoted by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) as a recruiter of child soldiers.
Self-proclaimed researcher, without hiding his past
After having broken with Jaysh al-Islam, in still vague terms in 2016, the Islamist had won Turkey, whose regime is considered in Western diplomatic circles as one of the political sponsors of the group. Without trying to hide his past, he had redone his virginity on social networks, presenting himself as a specialist in local geopolitics. In Istanbul, he explains frequenting a think tank, the “Toran Center for strategic studies”, defining himself, according to a document posted on Facebook, as “researcher specializing in Syrian affairs”, especially for questions of “security and terrorism” . He does not hide the fact that he was “deeply involved in the Syrian revolution”.
It is from Istanbul that he applies under his true identity for the issuance of a visa to study in France. He then wrote a letter of motivation for the Institute for Research on the Arab and Muslim World (Iremam) at the University of Aix-Marseille, which reports to the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). He obtains the sesame valid from November 5, 2019. “A short stay visa” was issued “on the basis of a complete file”, confirmed this Thursday the spokesperson of the Quai d’Orsay, which specifies that the “Competent ministerial services”, in this case those of the Interior, were previously consulted. The visa expired on February 5.
