Another terrorism trial opened Monday, October 5 before the Special Assize Court of Paris: that of Sid Ahmed Ghlam, accused of “murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise” and of “association criminal terrorist evildoers ”. Nine other men appear at his side for “complicity in murder” or “participation in a criminal association with a view to preparing a crime”.
Four months after the January 2015 attacks, the young man and his accomplices were preparing, according to the investigation, an attack against a church in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne). Sid Ahmed Ghlam is also accused of the murder of a 32-year-old fitness teacher from the North, Aurélie Châtelain, shot dead in her vehicle, on April 19, 2015 in the same city.
Cropped hair, gray woolen waistcoat, staring over his mask, Sid Ahmed Ghlam, now aged 29, reacted little to the investigation report read by President Xaviere Simeoni, if not to ask go to the toilet. At 8:50 am, this Sunday, April 19, 2015, this young Algerian, who has resided in France since 2009, calls the SAMU. He explains that he was shot and injured in a theft not far from his home, a university residence at 13e district of Paris.
The police, who arrived on the spot shortly after, discovered drops of blood near a Renault Mégane, which turned out to be that of the young man, already subject to an “S” card for radicalization. Inside the vehicle, the agents find an arsenal: machine gun, revolvers, magazines, bulletproof vest… And a binder containing texts evoking the preparation of the attack in Villejuif. At the hospital, Sid Ahmed Ghlam is taken into custody.
A determined man
In his student room on rue Julie-Daubié, the police seized other weapons, but also several mobile phones and computers containing a host of files and documents evoking the preparation of an attack: videos, religious texts, as well as dozens of e-mail addresses and accounts on various electronic mailboxes.
These documents make it possible to identify the young man’s alleged accomplices, for the most part by his side in the box: Abdelkader Jalal, who, according to the instruction, provided the Mégane and bulletproof vests; Rabah Boukaouma and Farid Brahami, who allegedly provided the weapons; Mamadou N’Diaye, whose genetic profile appears on a pistol; Beramdane Bessouyah, whose fingerprints were found on the assault rifle. Finally, two other defendants, Johnny Markovic and Sammy Sadaoui, who also allegedly provided assistance, appear free but under judicial supervision.
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