The possible involvement of radical Islamist movements in the beheading Friday of a history teacher in the Yvelines by an 18-year-old Chechen Russian arouses the concern of the information servicest and government.
The presence of Militant islamiste radical Abdelhakim Sefrioui among the eleven people held in custody as part of the investigation into the assassination of Samuel Paty reinforced these suspicions.
These Islamist movements “Minorities, seek to convince Muslims that France is an Islamophobic country. They seek to exploit them, to create a conglomerate ”, says Laurent Nuñez, the national coordinator of intelligence and the fight against terrorism. “And at the slightest incident, they get to work”.
Known to the services, Mr. Sefrioui is the founder of the Cheikh Yassine collective (named after the founder of Hamas, killed by the Israeli army in 2004). At the beginning of October, he had accompanied the father of a pupil to the college of Bois d’Aulne, in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, to ask for the dismissal of Mr. Paty, who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his students.
Introducing himself as “Member of the Council of Imams of France”, he had also broadcast a few days ago on Youtube a video in which he denounced the professor, described as “Thug”.
“Indirect link”
If there is “Not a direct link” established, Laurent Nunez nevertheless considers that “An indirect link”. “We can see that a plateau has been crossed”, he judges, pointing at the “Quality of the victim – a teacher – and barbarism” of his assassination.
The official also notes a resurgence of the discourse of radical Islamist movements with « the Charlie trial, the republication of cartoons and President Macron’s speech on a forthcoming law intended to strengthen secularism and fight against Islamist separatism ”.
After the chopper attack perpetrated at the end of September in front of the former premises of Charlie Hebdo by a young Pakistani, a security source explained that it was “The republication of the cartoons rather than the trial which had played in the aggravation of the threats”.
“The will to strike the West is intact” more “Between those who are deceased and those who are incarcerated”, the capacity for action of jihadist groups is “Very reduced”, she added, insisting on the endogenous threat coming from individuals acting alone.
“For a month in particular, there has been convergence and mobilization of three currents of Islamists: Muslims led by Marwan Muhammad, former spokesperson for the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), the CCIF, and Baraka City”, confirmed a source close to the government.
The president of Baraka City, a Muslim charity, Driss Yemmou, was placed under judicial supervision this week before being tried for harassment on social networks against a journalist.
Mr. Muhammad took issue with “A connivance, convergence” between these associations. “They are independent and sometimes have divergent positions”, he said. “As for the accusations of hate speech against France, it is exactly the opposite”.
This official pointed out that ” Muslims “ provided advice on topics such as “The pilgrimages” or “Collecting donations”. “Our basic speech is a declaration of love for France. We are not here to oppose our country ”.
“Hate of France”
These movements “Have today taken the lead of the Islamosphere, with a political, religious, radical approach, of hatred against France”, insists however the source close to the government.
“For them, France is a racist, Islamophobic state, the impious country and absolute disbeliever”, she insists, “They want chaos and civil war to build a new order around Sharia law”.
According to this source close to the government, Emmanuel Macron’s recent speech on Islamist separatism has heightened their anger.
“The passage to the act of this young (the killer of Conflans, Editor’s note) is part of this furrow”, she believes. This source also highlights the role “Hate messages on social networks that water young people” regretting, by the way, “The censorship of almost all of the law against hate content on the internet”.
The Constitutional Council ruled in June that the heart of this text, which imposed more obligations on internet platform operators, violated freedom of expression and communication.
Put in custody on Saturday, the father of the student of the murdered professor had posted on Facebook on October 7 a message calling for mobilization in which he mentioned the CCIF.
” Since two weeks “, commented the source close to the government, the “Penetration rate” of the three trends on social networks is “Particularly important”.
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