The verdict of the special assize court in Paris was delivered on Wednesday March 9, 2022. Sentences of 8, 10 and 13 years against three of the four defendants. They faced 30 years in prison for “criminal terrorist association”. Why did the judges not go higher and could they go lower? Explanations.
The indictment of the two general counsel on Monday March 7 had been very severe. Severe in the words used but not in the sentences requested against the three defendants present in the box (7, 9 and 14 years old required). These requisitions had then a little surprised everyone, civil parties as defense lawyers.
On Wednesday evening, the special assize court in Paris sentenced Rachid Kassim, tried in his absence, to life imprisonment, accompanied by a security sentence of 22 years, in accordance with the requisitions of the prosecution. He was the only one of the four prosecuted for “complicity in murder” and “attempted murder”.
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The other 3, Yassine Sebahia, Farid Khelil and Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis, went back to detention, with sentences of 8, 10 and 13 years respectively.
Some will say that it is not enough, others that it is too much. But what does the law say?
The association of terrorist criminals (AMT) has existed in law for more than 25 years, and the resurgence of attacks in France, including the infamous RER B in July 1995.
The “AMT” as the regulars of the judicial world say can be delictual or criminal. It is the parent terrorism offence, provided for in article 421-2-1 of the Penal Codein force since July 23, 1996.
In the case of the Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray attack, the criminal character was retained by the prosecution. The maximum penalty incurred was therefore 30 years, whereas in the case of a non-criminal terrorist association, that is to say tort, the maximum incurred is 10 years.
Hence the annoyed exit of Maître Bérenger Tourné at the end of the verdict: “The Assize Court refused to do law, which is unfortunately quite frequent the case before the courts specially composed in matters of terrorism…. Where the rule of law faces state reasons. Once again reason of state has commanded to punish”
The Assize Court refused to do law.
Maître Bérenger Tourné, lawyer for Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis
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Jean-Philippe’s lawyer Steven Jean-Louis, sentenced to 13 years, a sentence ultimately less than one year compared to the requisitions, explains his bitterness : “In the association of terrorist criminals, there must be an action to act jointly. However, in this file of association criminals terrorist CRIMINAL, it was fomented during four days, from July 22 to 26. Everything you did before and after the attack” should not be taken into account according to the interpretation of the criminal justice.
Maître Tourné therefore considers that his client should not have been condemned in this way. He had requested a tort reclassification and was considering appealing.
The other defense lawyers, Maître Katy Mira, for Yassine Sebahia, and Maîtres Léa Dordilly and Simon Cleménceau, for Farid Khelil, will not appeal, even if their clients have seen their sentence increased by one year compared to the requisitions. Respective sentences of 8 and 10 years.
For Maître Léa Dordilly, “This terrorist conspiracy is still not well defined. It is increasingly difficult to defend oneself. This case is particularly emblematic of case law on terrorism. Since Saint-Etienne du Rouvray, there is an aggravation of the repression, less and less requirement in terms of evidence and more and more severity in terms of sentences “
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A text came into force a few weeks before the attack, increasing the maximum sentence for a criminal terrorist association from 20 to 30 years.
For another lawyer, on the civil party side this time, the trial of the Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray attack has such an emotional and symbolic charge – it is the first time that a Catholic priest has been murdered in a church – that neither the victims nor public opinion would have understood that he was standing before a Correctional Court.
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Nevertheless, Maître Antoine Casubolo-Ferro, lawyer for the AfVT, the French association of victims of terrorism, believes that if the two assailants and Rachid Kassim were still alive, “Those guys wouldn’t have been in the box. » Maître Bérenger Tourné had even spoken at the start of the trial of three “lampists” paying for the others.
This trial, conducted with great serenity by Franck Zientara, a magistrate also known for having led the debates in the trial of the Thalys attack, is the 50th of jihadist terrorism since the creation of the PNAT, the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office in 2019.
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