Five people were sentenced Friday, November 9 in Paris to sentences ranging from two years suspended time to seven years in prison for their participation in the Roubaix jihadist network. More than a dozen young people from the group joined the Islamic State (IS) in 2013 and 2014. Most are presumed dead or remain in Syria.
Therefore, the criminal court judged only five defendants: four men for logistical or ideological support, and one woman. Mélodie H., 26 years old, was sentenced to five years of imprisonment – including three and a half years of probation. Between 2014 and 2015, she spent five months in Rakka, then the IS “capital” in Syria, where she had joined a man from Roubaix that she “married” on Skype.
M’Barek Chaabi, 62, who until 2015 owned an Islamic bookstore in Lille, was sentenced to six years in prison and ineligible for parole until after serving four, for having played the role of “ideological recruiter” and attempts to finance the cause through scams. Said Asboul, who had tried to travel to Afghanistan in 2011, was sentenced to seven years in prison for trying to go to Syria in 2013 – he was sent back to Turkey – and provided contacts to jihad candidates. He refused to be removed from his cell to attend his trial.
25-year-old Hakim F., who had attempted to travel to Syria and escorted four youths to the airport upon their departure, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, two of which were waved and three suspended. Finally, Sophian N., convicted for funding, was sentenced to two years suspended and fined 2,000 euros for sending 1,900 euros to his brother in Syria. The prosecution had asked for heavier sentences.
Sources
https://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2018/11/09/jusqu-a-sept-ans-de-prison-pour-cinq-membres-de-la-filiere-djihadiste-de-roubaix_5381524_1653578.html
