The "jihadist Breton" Gilles Le Guen, sentenced in 2015 to eight years in prison for having fought in the ranks of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), was released from prison in February, learned AFP learned Thursday of concordant sources. "He is no longer incarcerated at the establishment of Condé-sur-Sarthe," said the prison administration, confirming information from TF1 / LCI.
"We never heard of him." Captain of the Merchant Navy became chanter of the sharia, Gilles Le Guen had been arrested by the French special forces in the night of 28 to 29 April 2013, in the region of Timbuktu, Mali. Incarcerated at the prison of Alençon / Condé-sur-Sarthe, "he never had any problems with the staff," said a prison supervisor, on condition of anonymity. "He worked at the workshops, never heard of him, and as soon as there was confusion, he would withdraw," the source added. According to TF1 / LCI, Gilles Le Guen is now domiciled in the Channel, where he must "point" once a day at the police station.
A "lost man who becomes a terrorist". Converted to Islam in 1982, Gilles Le Guen, attracted by nomadism, left France for Morocco in 2005, before going to Mauritania, then to Mali from 2011. There were high goats a few months in a village before reaching Timbuktu. Born into a Catholic family, who went through Hinduism at the age of 18 before converting to Islam, Gilles Le Guen was described as "a lost man who becomes a terrorist" by Jean-Yves Le Drian at the time of his arrest.