At the trial of the duo of suspected terrorists accused of having wanted to commit an attack in Marseille a few days before the 2017 presidential election, the Paris Assize Court looked into the profile of Clément Baur on Friday January 6. Justice has tried to unravel the mystery of the life of the 29-year-old man, who managed to pass himself off as a refugee from the Caucasus and convince even his Chechen wives.
His conversion to Islam at the age of 14 – he who was raised in a Catholic family – is a non-subject for Clément Baur: ” From a very young age, I was attracted to this religion. My childhood friend was Muslim “, he explains.
If he leaves alone for Belgium at 17, it is just because it is easier to obtain social assistance there. Clément Baur collects false papers for ” make more money “, he says, referring to credit scams: “ I’m not a bad person “, he assures, even if he admits having frequented S files in Belgium.
A life under a pseudonym and with false papers
When the French police arrested her for the first time on a train coming from Brussels in January 2015, she thought she was dealing with a Russian who was traveling with false Lithuanian papers. Arrested for these false papers, he says his name is Ismaïl D., having left Russia after being ” abducted and tortured “, evokes a” brother died at 19 “, a sister living in Turkey, an appointment at the prefecture scheduled soon for her residence permit in France, recounts the president.
A legend he maintains during his immediate appearance, after which he is sentenced to four months’ imprisonment and incarcerated.
With investigators, judges, then prison staff and fellow prisoner Mahiédine Mérabet – today in the box next to him – he pretends to be a refugee from the Caucasus. He speaks Russian so well that even two of his three Chechen wives believed him. But on this art of dissimulation, Clément Baur refuses to explain himself.
But what did he do if reprehensible in Belgium ” for not presenting his real identity card and not even having had at his trial the ” temptation to say “I am French”, urges President Corinne Goetzmann. Clément Baur delivers confused explanations and the more the magistrate insists, the more they appear convoluted. ” It’s better to take four months than to have an S plug (of radicalization, Editor’s note) and a locker “says the accused.
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