Missed attack in Villejuif: "I had fallen into the trap, it was impossible to refuse"
A sketch of the audience made on October 5, 2020 shows Sid Ahmed Ghlam, during his trial in Paris, Benoit PEYRUCQ / AFP
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3 min
Third day of the trial of Sid Ahmed Ghlam, a radicalized Algerian student suspected of having wanted to commit an attack on a church in Villejuif and of having assassinated Aurélie Châtelain, a 32-year-old fitness teacher, in April 2015. This Wednesday, the court of he special meeting heard from Sid Ahmed Ghlam, who went back to the gears that led him to agree to commit an attack in France.
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With our special correspondent at the Paris courthouse,
Pierre Olivier
Rare fact in a terrorist trial: the main suspect did not die during his arrest.
Wearing a white and blue sweater, surgical mask on his face, Sid Ahmed Ghlam, 29, reveals to the court the scenes of his deadly project.
In February 2015, Sid Ahled Ghlam landed in Istanbul with the firm intention of joining Syria to, he said, "
fight the tyrant Bashar al-Assad and help the Muslims
".
On his way, he then meets a man, Abu Moutana, who explains to him that he would be more useful if he committed an attack in France.
To convince him, the man shows him a video of an Iraqi maternity hospital destroyed by a bombardment.
Sid Ahmed Ghlam recounts: “
Children were coming out of the rubble, it touched me.
I cried, they managed to break me.
Then they appointed me the person who had done that: the international coalition.
"
► To read also: Failed attack of Villejuif: what was the role of Sid Ahmed Ghlam?
Determined, a few days later, Sid Ahmed Ghlam is back in France still in shock after the
Charlie Hebdo
attacks
.
The young man explains however that he does not change his state of mind and says to rethink the video he had seen.
From a distance and by encrypted messages, it then proposes targets for a future
attack
.
In front of the court, Sid Ahmed Ghlam concludes: “
I had fallen into the trap, it was impossible to refuse.
With the Islamic State, it is sure that there would have been reprisals.
"
►
To read also: Aborted attack in Villejuif: Sid Ahmed Ghlam in front of his judges
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