France hands maximum sentence to mother of jihadist

Christine Rivière was handed the maximum sentence for her “unfailing commitment” to jihad and for helping a number of women travel to Syria to marry jihadists, including her son.

The 51-year-old, nicknamed ‘Mama Jihad’ in the French press, was convicted for being part of a terrorist organisation.

The sentencing comes a week after the conviction of Nathalie Haddadi, a mother of a French jihadist who was given a two-year prison sentence for financing terrorism after transferring money to him. Rivière, who converted to Islam in 2012, travelled to Syria three times to meet her son Tyler Vilus between 2013 and 2014.

Vilus, 27, travelled to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State group (ISIS).

He is believed to have been close to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind behind the Paris terror attacks.

He was arrested in Turkey in 2015 and is awaiting trial in France. Rivière was arrested in July 2012 as she was preparing a fourth visit to Syria.

She was accused of aiding her son’s terrorist activities by giving him money as well as sharing his extremist ideas. Rivière denied fighting for ISIS, but posted propaganda images and pictures of herself holding a Kalashnikov on Facebook.

Her lawyer Thomas Klotz said she was “completely lost” and only had a rudimentary knowledge of Islam.

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Sources

http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/dix-ans-de-prison-contre-mamie-djihad-partie-trois-fois-en-syrie-06-10-2017-7312875.php