Explosive devices built for attack
French left-wing extremists sentenced to long prison sentence
December 22, 2023, 8:14 p.m
Combat experience, firearms training and the production of explosive devices – everything to take action against French police. Paris judges convict seven defendants from the left-wing extremist scene of terrorism. However, the defendants are said not to have planned anything specifically.
Seven defendants from the left-wing extremist spectrum have been convicted in France of plotting attacks against security forces and forming a terrorist organization. The 39-year-old main defendant, Florian D., was sentenced in Paris as the group’s leader to five years in prison, half of which was on probation. Five other men and one woman received shorter prison sentences.
The judges considered it proven that the defendants were planning violent actions against police officers or soldiers. The verdict was temporarily interrupted after there was protest in the courtroom. “Down with the police state,” someone in the audience shouted. Florian D. was a “key figure,” emphasized the judge. He had repeatedly shown the “will to attack police officers, obtain weapons (…) and organize a militia.”
Combat experience and training with airsofts
The main defendant returned from Syria in 2018, where he fought with a Kurdish militia against the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS). He was monitored by the French domestic secret service for several months until he was arrested along with other suspects in December 2020. During searches, weapons and materials for making explosive devices were found.
The public prosecutor’s office accused the group of practicing the use of firearms and building explosive devices. But she also emphasized that there was no evidence of an imminent act. The defendants admitted to handling explosives, but explained that they had only “played a few rounds of airsoft,” an off-road game in which teams with airsoft weapons compete against each other. This was a pastime during the corona pandemic and the lockdown.
It is the first time since 1995 that French ultra-left supporters have been tried for terrorism. At that time, seven members of the Action Direct group were sentenced to long prison terms for several attacks. In 2008, the public prosecutor’s office investigated supporters of the ultra-left on suspicion of terrorism. She accused them of planning to sabotage TGV lines. However, the suspects remained unpunished.