The Paris courthouse, where the trial takes place. - Clément Follain / 20 Minutes

  • The trial of Mourad Farès opened this Monday in Paris. He appears for "criminal terrorist criminal association, terrorist financing and leadership of a terrorist group".
  • He is particularly suspected of having orchestrated the departure in December 2013 of ten young people from Bas-Rhin, nicknamed the "10 from Strasbourg", including Foued Mohamed-Aggad, one of the future suicide bombers of Bataclan.
  • Incarcerated since September 2014, Mourad Farès has since adopted a “repentant posture” in detention and abandoned any jihadist inclination.

His trial before the assizes of Paris opened this morning and should last until Thursday. Mourad Farès, 35, may explain this. He appears for criminal criminal criminal association, terrorist financing and leadership of a terrorist group.

Originally from Thonon-les-Bains, in Haute-Savoie, the man is considered an old recruiting figure for jihad in Syria and also accused of having led a group of young French-speaking combatants there. This defector from the organization of ISIS was arrested in Turkey and handed over to France on September 10, 2014.

At the origin of the departure of the "10 de Strasbourg"

In recent years, his name has appeared in several cases of routes to Syria tried by the 16th chamber of the Paris Criminal Court. He is particularly suspected of having orchestrated the departure in December 2013 of ten young people from Bas-Rhin, nicknamed the "10 of Strasbourg", including Foued Mohamed-Aggad, one of the future suicide bombers of Bataclan. All would have been recruited through the Meinau sector, named after the Strasbourg district.

Mourad Farès, who would have radicalized at the end of 2012, was very active on social networks where he spread jihad propaganda. The judges blamed him for the organization until mid-2013 of several meetings discussing departures from Syria, the Paris region, Strasbourg or Lyon. He himself left in July 2013, crossing Europe by car with three companions. He had previously received several bank transfers, which according to the magistrates could be used to finance his trip. He justified them by invoking internet collections for people in need.

He denies having fought

Upon his arrival in Syria, Mourad Farès had gone to Aleppo, to the headquarters of the terrorist organization Islamic State in Iraq and to the Levant (ISIL, which became the organization of the Islamic State in 2014). He admitted to having received training in the handling of weapons, but denied having fought, limiting his role to a few surveillance. According to his statements to investigators, he "disassociated" from ISIL in the fall of 2013 and left the ranks of the organization whose methods he condemned.

With other French people, mainly from Nice, he then joined the group of Franco-Senegalese Oumar Diaby, a large jihadist recruiter also known as Omar Omsen, who was forming in the country at the end of 2013. During this period, Mourad Farès is said to have continued to help young French-speaking jihad candidates to enter Syria, by providing them with the contacts of smugglers or by going directly to fetch them at the border. He is said to have prompted others to leave ISIL to join Oumar Diaby's jihadist brigade. According to several witnesses, arrested on their return to France, Mourad Farès had acted as head of the group in the absence of Diaby, who had left for Senegal. He has always challenged any function of leader.

Repent?

While it is known that Mourad Farès left Syria in July 2014 and sought help from the French authorities on his arrival in Turkey, the investigations did not allow him to establish with certainty his activities and the reasons for his departure. Incarcerated since September 2014, Mourad Farès is said to have adopted a "repentant posture" in detention and to have abandoned any jihadist impulse.

One of his ex-traveling companions, Ala Eddine Benali, 25, appears free under judicial control before the special assizes for trying to reach Syria. He had been unable to enter Turkey due to a passport problem. Two other men, Hachmi Hattabi and Bilel Ben Mimoun, who arrived with Mourad Farès in Syria and presumed dead, although still wanted, will be tried by default.

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  • jihadism
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  • Terrorism