He answers everything, but in reality he says nothing. Assailed with questions for a whole day on Thursday, Sid-Ahmed Ghlam has retained the annoying detachment he has observed since the start of his trial before the Special Assize Court. Two weeks ago, this 29-year-old Algerian told with disconcerting simplicity his express radicalization. And it is with the same distance that he evokes the heavy charges weighing against him: a failed attack project against a church in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne) and the assassination of Aurélie Châtelain, a professor of 32-year-old fitness, April 19, 2015. However, the audience showed to what extent he had played a driving role in this disastrous plan unmanned from Syria. And, consequently, how little credibility the thesis of voluntary abandonment seemed.
The scenario of this project is known. In October 2014, Sid-Ahmed Ghlam made his first stay in Turkey. While he wanted to join Syria with two Algerian friends, he was recruited by a certain “Abou Mouthana” who said he needed him in France. Even if he disputes it, this sponsor has been identified as Abdelnasser Benyoucef, a jihad veteran suspected of having played a central role within Daesh’s external operations cell.
In February 2015, he made a second stay in Turkey where he is likely to have also met Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the future coordinator of the November 13 attacks. “I accepted everything they asked me, that is to say to commit an action in France”, repeats the accused in a black quilted jacket on a striped sweater. A target is then mentioned: Villepinte station (Seine-Saint-Denis), the city where Abdelanasser Benyoucef lived. “They tell you how many deaths they expect? », Asks President Xaviere Simeoni. “A maximum”, concedes the young man, his hands resting on the edge of the box.
“I will kill at least 150 disbelievers”
Sid-Ahmed Ghlam is back in Paris on February 13, 2015. However, as the Advocate General points out, he will immediately show frantic activism. From the 14th, he bought a computer with the money his sponsors gave him and installed encryption software as agreed. And the day after, February 15, he scouted at Villepinte station. The courtyard watches the videos: the image is constantly moving but we understand that he goes up an alley, passes the porticoes and settles down on the platform where the trains which carry their lots of travelers stop.
But the student is not convinced. “I noticed that there were a lot of Muslims,” he says. “Is that what makes you back down?” “Asks the president. The young man nods. “But when you see all these people who can be targets, isn’t that more of a problem for you than that?” She continues. “Ideologically no because I had been told that it was not a bad thing but a good one,” delivers the accused. But today, I am ashamed to have made this location. “
At the time in any case, this change of plan did not slow down the ardor of the jihadist. Quite the contrary. In the days that followed, he fed his intermediaries with messages and multiplied his online searches: the markets of Paris, police stations, a bank, the Carreau du Temple, the bishopric of Créteil … In a memo written at the beginning of March, he spoke even from an operation on a train – “I will kill at least 150 disbelievers,” he boasts. On March 28, his interlocutors finally answer: “Try to find a good church with people and also watch so that you can leave quickly and easily. The choice will fall on the Sainte-Thérèse church in Villejuif where he will carry out a location on Sunday April 12.
“I felt panic over this passage to the act”
Civil party lawyers go on the offensive. “What were the specifications? Kill a lot of people? Do a spectacular action? Target the place of worship? A passing place? “Asks Me Gérard Chemla, the council of the National Federation of Victims of Attacks and Collective Accidents (Fenvac). “It was just to commit an act,” replied the accused without particular emotion. “But a church is not just anything! », Annoys the lawyer. “A station is also not just anything,” replied Sid-Ahmed Ghlam tit for tat. It remains a target. “And when Me Antoine Casubolo-Ferro, the lawyer of Aurélie Châtelain’s relatives, shifts, the young man gets annoyed for the first time. But is recovered very quickly.
The machine is switched on. Also thanks to indications sent from Syria, he obtains weapons in a car parked in a parking lot in Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis) on April 14 and 15 – the suspected members of the logistical support network are at his side in the box. Back in his student room, he films his arsenal. The images are shown in the room: three Kalashnikovs, chargers, vests, police bands, two flashing lights… Enough to commit carnage. “For one person, that’s a lot,” remarks Xaviere Simeoni.
