France: life imprisonment confirmed on appeal for Sid-Ahmed Ghlam
Sketch made on September 27, 2021. Sid Ahmed Ghlam speaks during his appeal trial in Paris.
Life imprisonment was confirmed Thursday, October 28, 2021 against this Algerian student, on appeal for the murder of a young woman and an abortive attack on a church in Villejuif, in the Paris suburbs, in April 2015 . AFP - BENOIT PEYRUCQ
Text by: RFI Follow
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Life imprisonment was confirmed Thursday against Algerian student Sid-Ahmed Ghlam, on appeal for the murder of a young woman and an abortive attack on a church in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne) in April 2015. The student, "in a state of stress", according to the president of the special assize court Emmanuelle Bessone, refused to appear at the hearing for the statement of the judgment.
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The maximum sentence, that is to say life imprisonment with a security period of 22 years and a definitive ban from the territory at the end of his sentence, had been requested against him.
Sid-Ahmed Ghlam, 30, admitted to having traveled to Syria in October 2014 and February 2015 to meet with executives of the Islamic State group.
He also admitted that he intended to carry out a deadly attack on a church in Villejuif, south-east of Paris.
But, he denied being the murderer of Aurélie Chatelain, a 32-year-old mother, killed in a parking lot in Villejuif on April 19, 2015.
As in the first instance, he maintained that a mysterious accomplice, of which the investigators found no trace, had killed the young woman.
►Also read: Aborted attack in Villejuif: Ahmed Ghlam sentenced to life imprisonment
Only the blood and DNA of Sid-Ahmed Ghlam were found at the crime scene.
He had accidentally injured his thigh while putting his gun back on the belt.
This injury forced him to give up his plan to attack the church.
During his appeal trial, he admitted that the plan was to kill parishioners and not just "
scare them
" as he claimed in his first trial.
With AFP
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