40-year-old François wants to reconnect with a friend he hasn’t seen for a long time. He sends a surprising message via Messenger: “Hi, I’m looking for terrorists to carry out some attacks on Sens. Tell me if you’re available”.
It is a single message. There hasn’t been one before and there’s been no response. No conversation for example.
It was the defendant’s sister who alerted the gendarmes: she discovered this message, thought that her brother had converted and radicalized and she warned the gendarmes.
At the helm, François, who is detained in Valence for other reasons, defends himself: “It was a joke, he said. I’m not a Muslim, I eat pork”.
Obviously the file is very thin: the prosecution clings to the videos watched by François. A video on Salah Abdelslam, a video on Al Qaeda. “On Youtube he has suggestions. I was watching Bring in the Accused and clicked on other suggestions.” “Your explanations are not sufficient” says the prosecutor who is asking for a 3-month suspended sentence, visibly unconvinced herself.
The court retires for a very brief moment to make its decision. “You are relaxed. Goodbye sir” said the president.