Sid-Ahmed Ghlam appeared before the special assize court in Paris (illustration) -
FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP
Sid-Ahmed Ghlam, 29, has been appearing since Monday before the Special Assize Court for "assassination and attempted assassination in connection with a terrorist enterprise" and "criminal terrorist association".
He is accused of having killed, in April 2015, a young woman of 32 years old and of having planned to commit an attack in a church in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne).
At his side, nine other people are on trial for having helped him to varying degrees.
This Tuesday, the trial got to the heart of the matter with, for the first time, the examination of the facts.
At the special assize court in Paris,
Gray jacket, light shirt, dark blue jeans, Jérémy M. approaches the bailiff who pours a dab of hydroalcoholic gel into his hands.
This precaution taken, the policeman advances towards the bar where he swears, like all the witnesses who file there, to tell the truth.
The president, Xaviere Simeoni, then invites him to go back five years.
At the time, Jérémy was assigned to the “city” group of the Val-de-Marne departmental judicial police service.
On April 19, 2015, the sun was shining when it was contacted in the morning by the Créteil prosecutor's office.
He is asked to go to Villejuif where the body of a young woman was found in a burning car.
Arrived on the scene at 9.15 am, he knows that the investigation will be assigned to another service.
"Our intervention was therefore limited to the strict minimum, to preserve the crime scene", he explained on Tuesday at the bar of the special assize court before which appears Sid-Ahmed Ghlam alongside seven other defendants. .
The Renault Scénic, which has not been declared stolen, belongs to a certain Aurélie Châtelain, 32 years old.
It is probably, he thinks, the victim who was killed by a bullet to the chest.
He then makes a few "observations, but no observations".
Then, he takes care of the "neighborhood investigation" before handing the death certificate and the young woman's phone to the investigators of the criminal squad which was seized.
The trail of a "villainous crime" dismissed
With graying hair, a scarf around his neck, Christian L. succeeds him at the helm.
With other investigators from the prestigious Crim ', he resumed the investigations.
Very quickly, he forges a conviction: this is not a “villainous crime”.
This mother "was not killed to be stolen," he says.
Indeed, the police found the personal effects of this young woman, originally from the North, "who was going to a pilates course organized at the Campanile hotel" located very close to the place where she was found.
This "girl without history" was probably surprised by her murderer who then set fire to the vehicle to remove "all traces of DNA or fingerprints".
The next day, investigators make the link with another case.
An Algerian student has been in custody since the day before in the premises of the anti-terrorism section of Crim '.
Gray suit, purple shirt and tie, Alain * takes out notes from several colored pockets which he took care to take with him to testify.
The police officer, who wishes to remain anonymous, in turn tells the court under what circumstances he was led to investigate Sid-Ahmed Ghlam.
On April 19, 2015, the young man called the Samu and "indicates having been shot and wounded" near his home, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.
He was taken to the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital.
"Overall, he keeps silent"
The officials who went there were quick to discover traces of blood near his car.
They notice, in the vehicle, the strange presence of a blue flashing light.
They then learn that Sid-Ahmed Ghlam is being followed by the intelligence services who suspect him of being radicalized.
At the beginning of the afternoon, he was taken into police custody.
At the same time, the search of his Renault Mégane revealed two pistols, a Sig Sauer and a Sphinx, as well as a Kalashnikov.
The police also discovered 27 handwritten pages.
The author repeatedly expresses his desire to "kill a max", notes the opening hours of the city's churches, the address of the police stations.
At 6.30 p.m., police raiding Sid-Ahmed Ghlam's studio discovered other assault rifles as well as a declaration of allegiance to Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
During his police custody, which lasted more than 96 hours, the young man was heard nine times by investigators.
“Overall, he remains silent,” explains Alain.
He refuses to take a "writing test".
He is content to say that he found the weapons and documents hidden in a truck, in Ozoir (Seine-et-Marne).
He decided to get rid of it and was injured on this occasion with a pistol.
An accomplice?
But the investigation shows that Aurélie Châtelain was killed with the Sphinx pistol found in her car.
Her DNA is also found in the young woman's car.
He then changes his version and says that it was a certain Abu Hamza who killed her.
Sid-Ahmed Ghlam now swears to have shot himself in the thigh so as not to commit the attack he was planning in Villejuif.
A version that does not believe the lawyer for the civil parties, Me Antoine Casubolo-Ferro.
He believes that the accused probably forgot to "lock the safety of his weapon" after having murdered the young woman and that he was injured while putting his pistol back in the belt.
He then called for help on his way home.
The defense lawyers, they consider that the investigators from the start ruled out the thesis of complicity.
"Why, when he was planning to carry out an attack, would he have fired several shots and killed this young woman?"
»Asks Me Jean-Hubert Portejoie.
He recalls that witnesses, who observed the scene from a distance, had the impression of seeing several people.
But Christian L., whom they question, remains on his position: "I think that this second person does not exist".
The trial of Sid-Ahmed Ghlam and the seven other people tried alongside him (two are by default) is due to last until November 6.
* The first name has been changed
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