In France, for the first time, four neo-Nazis are tried at the assizes for terrorism. The trial opened this Monday, June 19, 2023. It was to a priori be held behind closed doors, one of the defendants being a minor at the time of the events. But the court decided otherwise. Court which looked into the personality of the main accused, Alexandre Gilet, a 27-year-old former gendarme and supposed leader of this small group accused of having prepared attacks, in particular against mosques, in 2018.
transcript of hearing, Moissonniere Marine
“ I considered violent plans “, immediately admits Alexandre Gilet, who swears that he would never have taken action. ” I was radicalized at some point in my life, following the attacks of 2015 he says.
His mother never noticed anything. No outfit, no particular haircut. His father noted a change, at the end of 2015. Alexandre Gilet was then 19 years old, he left the army and decided to join the gendarmerie.
The Grenoblois then begins to buy weapons. ” He always liked it “, justifies his mother. ” Many gendarmes have weapons at home “Adds her ex-husband.
So, even if since the attacks, Alexandre Gilet does not like foreigners, his family is not worried. Nobody really knows his ideological convictions. ” He kept them for himself “, insists his mother.
Asked about his difficulties in making friends from college, mentioned by several witnesses, A. Gilet replies: “I was in a solitary way of life. It was not a difficulty to go to the other. It just didn’t interest me.”
— MdeLaMoissonniere (@MarineAmericas) June 19, 2023
His ideas, the young man shares them on social networks. This loner grew up glued to screens. But today, he regrets this ideological commitment. It’s in the past, he says.
The lawyer for the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism, the Licra, points out that in prison, Alexandre Gilet made friends, in particular the nationalist activist Hervé Ryssen.
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