Aborted Villejuif attack: Sid Ahmed Ghlam before his judges

The attack was to take place at Saint-Cyr-Sainte-Juliette church, in Villejuif, during Sunday mass.

AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

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This Monday, October 5, the trial of Sid Ahmed Ghlam opens in Paris.

This 29-year-old young man is suspected of having prepared an attack - aborted - against a church in Villejuif in April 2015 and of having killed a 32-year-old woman.

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It is before the special court of assize that

will be tried for nearly a month for assassination and attempted assassination in connection with a terrorist enterprise and criminal terrorist association.

According to the prosecution, Sid Ahmed Ghlam, then a computer science student filed S for radicalization, wanted to attack on April 19, 2015, a few months after the

attacks

, a church in Villejuif, near Paris, at the time of the Sunday mass. 

The attack on the church could have been foiled by the police, because Sid Ahmed Ghlam had contacted the SAMU after accidentally shooting himself in the leg, probably by handling his weapon. 

While preparing for his acting out in his garage, the man is also accused of having coldly shot Aurélie Châtelain, a 32-year-old fitness teacher and mother of a 4-year-old daughter.

Sid Ahmed Ghlam, detained since her arrest in 2015, denies having killed her and claims to have given up on his plan to attack before her arrest.

For their part, the investigators, after analyzing his telephone exchanges, believe that he was acting on behalf of the Islamic State organization. 

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