Sentences ranging from two years in prison to five years in prison, including thirty months with probation, were handed down on Friday by the Paris criminal court against seven ultra-left sympathizers tried for terrorist criminal association in the framework of the “affair of December 8, 2020”.
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The heaviest sentence was imposed on Florian D., 39, who fought in 2017 with the Kurds of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Rojava (northeast Syria) against the jihadist group Islamic State. However, he will be able to benefit from a reduced sentence for the part of the prison sentence that he still has to serve.
This sentence is, however, lower than what the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) had requested against him, i.e. a six-year prison sentence with a committal warrant. Justice considered that he wanted to foment violent actions against the police, even if no successful plan was determined. In their requisitions, the two Pnat prosecutors insisted on the central role of the main defendant, the only “common denominator” of the other accused persons. Although he knew all the other protagonists, some of them had never seen each other before being implicated in this affair.
After the decision was announced, Me Raphaël Kempf, one of his lawyers, estimated that the motivations were “ extremely problematic “. While saying he was relieved that his client was not returning to prison, he was concerned about the “ extension to the political and militant sphere of the notion of terrorism that this judgment signs “. “ The judges clearly say that expressing criticism or resentment towards the police institution could constitute an act of terrorism. the lawyer said.
The six other defendants were sentenced to two-year sentences, suspended to four years, including 25 months of probation. All are prohibited from contacting each other as well as a ban on possessing a weapon for ten years.
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“ The aim of seriously disturbing public order through intimidation and terror ” East ” characterized by the desire expressed on several occasions (…) to undermine the integrity of police officers, to seize weapons”or even “ organize an armed militia “, declared the president at the beginning of the reading of the decision, before it was interrupted by demonstrations of discontent in the room. The hearing was suspended for about an hour and a half.
(with AFP)