Jihadist Emilie König is one of the women repatriated from Syrian camps

Emilie König, one of the best-known French jihadists, is one of sixteen mothers repatriated to France from jihadist prison camps in Syria, franceinfo learned on Tuesday July 5. This 37-year-old woman, originally from Lorient (Morbihan), went to Syria in 2012. She is accused of having recruited for the Islamic State group and of having called for attacks in the West. Emilie König had notably published several propaganda videos on social networks, where she trained in shooting.

She is the subject of an arrest warrant and should be indicted and then imprisoned after her appearance before the magistrates, said the source familiar with the matter. Regularly appearing in propaganda videos, she had been placed by the UN on its blacklist of the most dangerous fighters. Since October 2015, she has been on the US blacklist of international terrorists.

Emilie Konig is the mother of five children, including three born in Syria, who had been repatriated to France at the start of 2021. A team from France Télévisions had met her briefly at the start of 2021.

Tuesday’s repatriation concerns a total of thirty-five minors and sixteen mothers, who were present in jihadist prison camps in Syria. This is the first such massive repatriation to France of children and mothers since the fall in 2019 of the Islamic State organization. This responds to a repeated request from NGOs and families who say they hope for an end to the policy “inhuman” from “case by case”.

Eight mothers were placed in police custody “in execution of a search warrant” and “eight (others) are the subject of an arrest warrant”, explained the national anti-terrorist prosecution in a press release. A 17-year-old minor and seven women were taken into custody at the DGSI, said a source familiar with the matter. The eighth was placed in police custody at the Anti-Terrorist Section (SAT) of the Paris police headquarters