Arriving in France in 2020, Amir Hadawi, 22, was fleeing Taliban repression. First settled in Agen before moving to Bordeaux, he seemed, at first glance, to have taken an exemplary path to reintegration. A house painter and holder of a residence permit until July 2025, he was not known to the police. Until the day when, under cover of the anonymity of social networks, his progress faltered.
The shadow of Osama bin Laden and Daesh
On TikTok, between fall 2023 and summer 2024, Amir Hadawi gradually reveals a fascination with Islamic extremism. Publishing photos and videos of Osama bin Laden, he violently attacks « unbelievers »which he describes as « worse than animals ». Added to these publications are messages extolling violence, asserting that “ the blood of your children is the blood of our children », and others in support of Daesh, symbolized by the organization’s emblematic black flag.
The French authorities, through constant surveillance of the networks, were quick to spot his activities. Reported to the judicial authorities, Amir Hadawi was arrested on August 16, 2024 in his apartment by the judicial police forces, assisted by the Raid. Meticulous searches of his electronic devices followed, revealing the depth of his ideological commitment. Placed in police custody, he expressed an ambivalent position, declaring himself in favor of sharia but “only in Islamic countries”.
A late mea culpa have the court
Before the Bordeaux criminal court, Amir Hadawi finally admitted the facts. He confesses to having allowed himself to be convinced by radical ideologies before “ understand your mistake “. He claims today to have renounced these beliefs, without dispelling the doubts of the prosecution, recalling the tense context since the assassination of the professor in Arras in October 2023.
The court was not convinced by the young man’s late statements. Sentenced to two years in prison, Amir Hadawi will have to serve his sentence and will be kept in detention. Added to this is a ten-year ban from French territory and his registration in the file of perpetrators of terrorist offenses (FIJAIT). A case which testifies to the insidious dangers of digital radicalization and the fragilities of a migratory route diverted towards extremist ideologies.
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