They are judged nearly six years after the assassination of Father Hamel in his church, in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray (Seine-Maritime). Four men appear before the special assize court in Paris, from Monday February 14 until Friday March 11. Among them, the alleged instigator of the attack, the propagandist Rachid Kassim, judged by default, and three men from the entourage of the jihadists. The two main assailants were killed by the security forces on leaving the church and will therefore not be tried. Franceinfo recalls the facts and returns to the issues of this trial.
What happened ?
It is 9:25 a.m. on July 26, 2016, when priest Jacques Hamel finishes his service. Five people attend the mass: one couple of faithful and three nuns. The audience is not numerous because it is during the week, a Tuesday. A few minutes later, two young men, armed with knives and a handgun, enter the church, located in the heart of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a town of 29,000 inhabitants near Rouen (Seine-Maritime).
These two 19-year-old assailants sequester those present. They grab 85-year-old Father Jacques Hamel, force him to kneel on the altar and force one of the parishioners to film the scene with a mobile phone. Then they attack them with knives, destroy furniture and break objects. They justify their actions by the coalition bombings in Syria. A nun manages to escape and gives the alert. The police secure the area and the research and intervention brigade (BRI) surrounds the church.
At 10:35 am, the terrorists come out, first with two hostages as human shields. Then they run towards the police. The latter neutralize them on the forecourt of the church at 10:40 a.m. They find that they were wearing fake explosive belts and had an inoperative pistol. Father Hamel’s lifeless body is discovered behind the altar. The parishioner is seriously injured and the other hostages, safe and sound. Four hours after the end of the attack, the claim of the Islamic State group falls.
Who were the two terrorists?
The body of the first assailant is quickly identified: it is Adel Kermiche. Unemployed, followed for behavioral problems during his childhood and adolescence, this Franco-Algerian is already well known to the anti-terrorist services. The attack perpetrated at Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, according to his mother, acted like a “detonator” in its process of radicalization. Soon after, he tried twice to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) group. At each of his attempts, he is arrested and then indicted. At the time of the events, he was under judicial control, equipped with an electronic bracelet. He is under house arrest with his parents in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a residence which he is authorized to leave between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on weekdays. It is during this time slot that he commits the attack on the church and its priest.
The identity of the second terrorist is more difficult to establish. But the investigators find an identity card at Adel Kermiche and obtain, thanks to DNA checks, confirmation that it is Abdel-Malik Petitjean. Originally from Aix-les-Bains (Savoie), he is also 19 years old. He was on file with the anti-terrorist services a month before the attack, for having tried to reach Syria. On July 20, 2016, he released a video in which he threatened France “a devastating attack”. The next day, he got in touch with Adel Kermiche on Telegram messaging and joined him in Seine-Maritime to prepare “the execution of their action plan”. Two days before taking action, they recorded together, at the home of Adel Kermiche, a video of allegiance to IS which will be broadcast on Telegram the day after the attack.
Who are the individuals on trial?
Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis. It was he who tried to reach Syria with Abdel-Malik Petitjean a month before the attack. The young men met on social networks in 2015. Aged 20 at the time of the events, from a Christian family, Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis converted to Islam as a teenager. He showed up “very active in the jihadosphere by relaying the propaganda of the Islamic State”, according to investigators. According to them, he is at the origin of several jackpots, including the one which was used to finance the attack in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.
Farid Khelil. This is the cousin of Abdel-Malik Petitjean, 11 years his senior and from Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle). According to the examining magistrates, from 2014 he experiences “fascination” towards the jihadist ideology. “Farid Khelil’s knowledge of radicalization of Abdel-Malik Petitjean is beyond doubt”, they say again. Especially since his cousin stayed at his home two weeks before the attack. He himself had mentioned, during discussions with Abdel-Malik Petitjean and Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis, with whom he planned to go to Syria, the “wish to commit violent action in France”according to the prosecution.
Yassine Sebaihia. This young man, 21 years old when the attack was committed, was arrested on August 8, 2016 at his home near Toulouse (Haute-Garonne). He was previously unknown to the police. Investigators were interested in him because he conversed with Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean on Telegram messaging. And, above all, because he went, two days before the terrorist attack, to Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray to meet them. However, after spending a night with them, he returned home, “uncomfortable and disappointed”. EWas he aware of the attack in preparation? Did he intend to participate before retracting? Yassine Sebaihia says he thought he would train there “a holiday camp to learn religion” and that there was never any question of participating in violent action.
Rachid Kassim. Media figure of the Islamic State group, he appears as the instigator of several attacks in France, including that of Magnanville in June 2016 and Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. Born on January 24, 1987 in Roanne (Loire), this jihadist left for Syria in 2015 with a wife and child. First a fighter for IS, he became “propagandist” after a knee injury. He is accused of having provided advice on social networks to commit attacks in France. So, he exchanged several times on Telegram with Abdel-Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, encouraging them to take action. He also conversed with the other defendants.
Are they all present at the trial?
Three defendants, indicted and placed in pre-trial detention since the summer of 2016, are present. On the other hand, Rachid Kassim, presumed dead, is the great absentee. The jihadist recruiter was reportedly killed in Iraq, by a coalition airstrike against the Islamic State group, on February 8, 2017. The American authorities confirmed his death two days later, but no formal proof has ever been provided. He has therefore been tried in absentia and subject to an arrest warrant since August 3, 2016.
What are the defendants accused of?
Rachid Kassim is being prosecuted for “complicity in assassination” and “attempted terrorist assassination“, in addition to being judged for his participation in a “criminal terrorist conspiracy”. Not only is he accused of having encouraged the passage to the act of Abdel-Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, but also to have broadcast their video of allegiance. He faces life imprisonment.
The other three, Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis, Farid Khelil and Yassine Sebaihia, are fired their participation in a “criminal terrorist conspiracy”. After four years of investigation, the magistrates believe that they knew that Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean were planning a violent action, even if they did not establish that they had participated in the preparation of the attack. They remind that “precise knowledge of the project is not required to characterize the infringement”that he “enough” simply “to be aware” of his “existence” and that he is “possible to ignore the exact purposes”. They face a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
How do they defend themselves?
Throughout the investigation, the three defendants present refuted the charges against them. For Bérenger Tourné, the lawyer of Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis, the three men are only “lamplighters” “what’we try to hang up in a contrived way to the attack” of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. “My client never knew anything about this planned attack”, “perpetrated without his assistance”, he says to franceinfo before the start of the trial.
This is also the line of defense of his co-defendants: they knew the two young terrorists but were not aware of their plan for deadly action, contrary to the allegations of the investigating judges. Thereby, Farid Khelil challenges “any inclination to leave for Syria” and denies having heard of “his cousin’s criminal schemes”indicates his lawyer to franceinfo. “Hefends off any adherence to the ideology of the Islamic State group”says Simon Clémenceau. “He has been in pre-trial detention for five and a half years, that’s a very long time, so he feels a form of impatience. He has theintention to speak in court“he adds.
I didn’t have time to read everything, can you give me a summary?
On July 26, 2016, two young terrorists claiming to be from the Islamic State group attacked the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen (Seine-Maritime). Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean assassinated Father Jacques Hamel with knives while he was celebrating mass in front of five people. They also attacked a parishioner, who survived despite serious injuries. The two assailants, aged 19, were killed during the intervention of the police and are therefore not tried.
The investigation carried out after the attack led to the arrest of three other young men close to the terrorists. According to the judges, Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis, Farid Khelil and Yassine Sebaihia knew that an attack was being prepared, even if they only knew the outlines of the project. They believe that they encouraged Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean to take action. The three young men are sent back to the special Assize Court of Paris, from Monday, February 14, for “criminal terrorist association”. A fourth man, Rachid Kassim, a figure of the IS, is considered to be the instigator of the attack. Presumed dead, but still targeted by an arrest warrant, he will be tried by default, in particular for “complicity in terrorist assassination”, during this trial organized for four weeks.