a French “ghost” from the Islamic State group sentenced to 12 years in prison in Paris

A “ghost” of the Islamic State group, who was tried in Paris for criminal terrorist association, was sentenced, Wednesday, March 1, to twelve years in prison. The special assize court combined this sentence with a two-thirds security period. The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office had requested fourteen years’ imprisonment, including two thirds of security, against the accused, aged 32.

Professional judges have taken into account “evolution” of Douha Mounib, who claimed that his membership of IS was part of the “pass”even if these “positive elements” have been “counterbalanced” by her incredible escape attempt in November 2021, when she had been incarcerated for four years in France. “It is a satisfactory decision, the court has decided to take a step towards the accused”rejoiced his lawyer, Joseph Hazan.

Douha Mounib acknowledged at the hearing “globality” facts. The young woman was radicalized at the end of 2012. She then drinks propaganda videos, begins to wear the veil, stops her midwifery studies. In the box, she told how her “desire” to go to Syria had turned to “the obsession”a few months before starting a first journey in 2013 to this war zone, marrying a smuggler she had just met in Turkey.

Arrested in 2017 then repatriated to France

This first stay had been cut short after two months, due to the instability of the region. Douha Mounib then never stopped wanting to go back to Syria. After several failures, “extreme determination” had ended up paying in the summer of 2015: thanks to the identity card stolen from her mother, she had managed to cross the Turkish-Syrian border with her Tunisian second husband and his son, aged less than 2 years. . Douha Mounib had finally left the territories controlled by the IS at the end of 2016, and had been arrested in March 2017 at the Syrian-Turkish border with her daughter aged a few months and her husband’s child. She had been repatriated to France at the end of 2017 and imprisoned.

For the Advocate General, Douha Mounib delivered a “watered down version” of this second stay, “minimising” his participation. The young woman had affirmed that her husband had no “never fought” and that she herself had not seen any of the “daily atrocities” committed by IS, according to the representative of the prosecution. “I won’t take the bet to believe her”she asserted.