Sid-Ahmed Ghlam has been appearing since Monday before the special assize court in Paris -
BENOIT PEYRUCQ / AFP
Sid-Ahmed Ghlam, 29, appeared from 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 Wednesday, the president asked him questions about his career and tried to understand how this former computer science student had radicalized.
At the special assize court in Paris,
Sitting on the bench of the civil parties, Jean-Luc Châtelain is struggling to contain his emotion.
His daughter, Aurélie, would have celebrated her 38th birthday this Tuesday, October 7.
The fist clenched, he can not help staring at the man who is a few meters from him, in the box of the accused, and who is in particular on trial for the murder of this mother of a 4 year old girl, in April 2015, in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne).
The mask under his nose, wrapped up in a black down jacket, Sid-Ahmed Ghlam, 29, laboriously answers questions from the president, Xaviere Simeoni.
The magistrate has been trying, since the beginning of the afternoon, to better understand the course of this young man who was planning to commit an attack in the name of Daesh in a church but who denies having killed this fitness teacher from the north of France .
Brown hair, thick eyebrows, Sid-Ahmed Ghlam grew up in Algeria, with his brothers and sisters, in a Muslim family "by tradition, by culture".
He was only 10 years old when his parents left the Maghreb to settle in France near Saint-Dizier (Haute-Marne), where some of his relatives were already.
After a bac S, obtained he assures with a very good mention, he enrolled in a "reputable" school in Paris, paid for by his parents, with the aim of becoming a computer engineer.
But these studies are expensive, and the young man is neither assiduous nor brilliant.
Studies "incompatible" with the practice of religion
After two years spent in this school, he left for Reims and enrolled at the university.
He didn't like life in Champagne much, especially since he still encountered so many difficulties in studying.
At the end of the year, a "temporary illness", "fever" prevents him from taking his exams.
Despite this failure, he dreams of returning to live in the capital and for that, all means are good.
He falsifies his report card and registers at the Sorbonne.
The deception is quickly discovered and he is forced to interrupt his studies.
In any case, studying became "incompatible" with his practice of religion, in particular because of the "mix".
There he is alone, in Paris, without a job, training or income.
His family, who remained in Saint-Dizier, do not know that he has stopped lessons.
During this period, he meets a girl whom he dates "specifically on the Internet" and whom he wants to marry, even if he has only met her, he says, once.
Her father refuses on the pretext that this young woman, originally from Brest, has already been married and has children.
However, with her, Sid-Ahmed Ghlam was ready to move to a Muslim country.
In Algeria, or in Syria "after [its] radicalization".
Finally, she refuses this proposal because she wants to "concentrate on the tests" that she has to pass.
Today, he claims to have "a neutral feeling" for her.
Even if, during the discussions he has with his family in the prison visiting room, he does not hesitate to call her a "bitch", underlines the president.
"They made me believe that evil was good"
One hand on the microphone, the other on the wooden railing of the box, Sid-Ahmed Ghlam now talks about his holidays in Algeria, in the summer of 2014. It is on the other side of the Mediterranean that he is " embrigadé ”by people met through a childhood friend.
A few months later, in October, he left for Turkey with the hope of succeeding in joining Syria to "fight".
But his interlocutors have another project for him.
“They told me they needed me in France,” he explains.
Before adding: “They made me believe that evil was good, that terrorists were others.
He himself was very shocked when he watched a video showing a little girl presented as injured in the "coalition" bombing.
In February 2015, Sid-Ahmed Ghlam left for Turkey for a few days.
He knows his mission and his sponsors, including an “emir”, have given him a large sum of money in order to buy equipment: around 5,000 or 6,000 euros.
But back in France, doubt creeps in and he hesitates to go “from theory to practice”.
He knew at the time that he could "die a martyr" during this operation.
“I accepted it.
Today, he claims to be de-radicalized and no longer adhere to the ideology of the Islamic State since he was imprisoned.
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.
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