The special assize court in Paris imposed this sentence with a 22-year security period, during which he will not be able to request early release.
The jihadist Mehdi Nemmouche has appealed his conviction to life imprisonment after being found guilty of being a jailer in Syria for the Islamic State (IS) group, including four French journalists, announced his lawyer on Monday, March 31. «The appeal was necessary, as this legal battle and my plea were not exercises in style for art, but aimed at acquittal,» he said.
After five weeks of trial and ten hours of deliberation, Mehdi Nemmouche, 39, was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a 22-year security period during which he cannot request early release. The special assize court in Paris extended the recognized victims to all 25 Western journalists and aid workers kidnapped in Syria, some of whom were killed in propaganda videos.
During the trial, the former French hostages recounted their ten-month ordeal in IS prisons, but emphasized that they quickly realized their lives were more valuable to their captors than the thousands of Syrians being tortured to death «day and night» in nearby cells. Le parquet antiterroriste avait demandé la peine maximale pour Mehdi Nemmouche afin de «protéger définitivement la société» de ce «véritable sociopathe dénué de toute empathie».
Identifié comme leur ancien geôlier par Didier François, Edouard Elias, Nicolas Hénin et Pierre Torres après l’attaque du musée juif de Bruxelles en 2014, Mehdi Nemmouche a déjà été condamné à la réclusion criminelle à perpétuité pour quatre assassinats terroristes. Au cours du procès à Paris, il a affirmé n’avoir rejoint l’EI que pour combattre Bachar al-Assad et n’avoir jamais rencontré les quatre journalistes français qui l’ont décrit comme un geôlier «pervers», «sadique» et «qui parlait tout le temps».
La cour d’assises spéciale de Paris a assorti cette peine d’une période de sûreté de 22 ans, pendant laquelle il ne pourra pas demander de libération anticipée. ELISABETH DE POURQUERY of France Televisions reported that the jihadist Mehdi Nemmouche has appealed his conviction to life imprisonment after being found guilty of being a jailer in Syria for the Islamic State (IS), specifically of four French journalists. His lawyer announced on Monday, March 31st that «The appeal was necessary, as this legal battle and my plea were not exercises in artistry, but aimed at acquittal.»
Following a five-week trial and ten hours of deliberation, Mehdi Nemmouche, 39, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of twenty-two years before he can apply for early release. The special assize court in Paris extended the recognized victims to all 25 Western journalists and aid workers kidnapped in Syria, some of whom were killed in propaganda videos.
During the hearing, the former French hostages recounted their ten-month ordeal in IS prisons but emphasized that they quickly realized their lives were more valuable to their captors than the thousands of Syrians being tortured to death «day and night» in nearby cells. The counter-terrorism prosecutor had requested the maximum penalty against Nemmouche to «permanently protect society» from this «genuine sociopath devoid of any empathy.»
Nemmouche was identified as their former jailer by Didier François, Edouard Elias, Nicolas Hénin, and Pierre Torres after the 2014 attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels, for which he was previously sentenced to life imprisonment for four terrorist murders. Throughout the Paris trial, Nemmouche swore that he only joined IS to fight against the former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and claimed he never met the four French journalists who formally identified him as a «perverse», «sadistic» jailer who «talked too much, all the time.»
Le jihadiste Mehdi Nemmouche a fait appel de sa condamnation à la réclusion criminelle à perpétuité après avoir été déclaré coupable d’avoir été un geôlier en Syrie du groupe Etat islamique (EI) et notamment de quatre journalistes français, a annoncé lundi 31 mars son avocat. «L’appel s’imposait, car ce combat judiciaire et ma plaidoirie n’étaient pas des exercices de style pour l’art, mais visaient l’acquittement», a-t-il précisé.
Après cinq semaines de procès et dix heures de délibéré, Mehdi Nemmouche, 39 ans, a été condamné à la réclusion criminelle à perpétuité, assortie d’une période de sûreté de vingt-deux ans, pendant laquelle il ne pourra pas demander de libération anticipée. La cour d’assises spéciale de Paris a étendu le périmètre des victimes reconnues à l’ensemble des 25 journalistes et humanitaires occidentaux kidnappés en Syrie, dont certains ont été assassinés dans des vidéos de propagande.
A l’audience, les ex-otages français ont raconté leur supplice de dix mois dans les geôles de l’EI, mais souligné avoir vite compris que leurs vies avaient plus de valeur, aux yeux de leurs geôliers, que celles des milliers de Syriens torturés à mort «jour et nuit» dans les cellules voisines.
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