International Journal on Criminology Volume 7, Number 1, Winter 2019/2020 | Page 121

International Journal on Criminology
network systematically robbed prostitutes operating in the Bois de Boulogne park
in Paris. Arrested and tried, he received a fifteen-year prison sentence for financing
terrorism and for planning terror attacks in France, notably on the metro and
at Orly Airport. He will be released in 2020 ...
Chérif Kouachi
Chérif Kouachi’s Algerian parents died when he was very young, and he was
brought up in a children’s home. In the early 2000s, he was indoctrinated by FB,
the leader of a Salafist group. When arrested shortly before setting off to Iraq to
wage jihad, he thanked investigators for saving his life by preventing his departure.
His remorse at the time seems to have been genuine.
In prison, Kouachi came to know DB, an Algerian who had been stripped of
his French nationality and detained in France since his return from Afghanistan,
where Al-Qaeda appears to have tasked him with setting up operational cells in
France and across Europe. Kouachi’s psychological weakness made him easy prey
and a good candidate for martyrdom. Tragically, the consequences of this are all
too well known. As for DB, he is due for release this summer and will be deported
to Algeria.
Larossi Abballa
At the time of his arrest in 2011, investigators found a diary with a list of police
stations and tourist sites around the Yvelines department near Paris, all potential
targets. The investigation brought to light some disturbing exchanges: “Do you
really think they need us over there in Pakistan? By the will of Allah, we shall be
given the means to raise the flag here in France”; “It’s time to get to work”; “I want
blood, as Allah is my witness.” It has also been established that he took part, from
late 2010 to early 2011, in religious and physical training activities in parks in Val
d'Oise and Seine-Saint-Denis. In a more discreet episode, which took place in the
woods of Cormeilles-en-Parisis (Val d'Oise), the group’s training consisted of slitting
the throats of rabbits.
At a time when France was still reeling from the attacks carried out by Mohamed
Mehra, Abballa’s actions were punished by a mere three-year sentence, six
months of which were suspended. Abballa left court a free man, having already
served all of his sentence on remand. What happened next? He murdered two
police officers in their own home, in front of their little boy.
The Treatment of Radicalized Individuals
upon Release from Prison
While the use of preventive detention for the most radicalized individuals
is a legal no-go area, we should also guard against believing that the
blanket surveillance of freed prisoners is a miracle solution.
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