"The four were handed sentences of between eight years and life in prison over the attack on Father Jacques Hamel, 85, who was stabbed in his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray by two 19-year-olds as he finished Mass. Two nuns and an elderly couple were held hostage before the assailants slashed the priest’s throat and seriously injured another elderly churchgoer.
The two attackers, Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, were killed by police as they left the church. The four men on trial were accused of having helped or encouraged the attack.
/.../
Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis, 25, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for trying to go to Syria with one of the attackers, and for his Islamic proselytism on Telegram.
A cousin of one of the attackers, Farid Khelil, was sentenced to 10 years. Prosecutors said he was informed of the attack plan and that he had supported it. He testified at the trial that he is bisexual, non-religious and spent his time drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis, in an apparent effort to distance himself from the religious extremists.
Yassine Sebaihia was sentenced to eight years, after he had crossed France to join one of the attackers for “religion lessons.”
The biggest punishment was handed to the absent defendant: Rachid Kassim, a Frenchman who was a notorious Islamic State recruiter, was sentenced to life in prison. Kassim, believed to have been killed in a drone strike in 2017 in Iraq, is suspected of having used social media to encourage the attack on the priest. Kassim had already received a life sentence in absentia in 2019 for having ordered a failed attack near Notre Dame Cathedral."
https://apnews.com/article/islamic-s...5fc75fd6d971d6
The two attackers, Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, were killed by police as they left the church. The four men on trial were accused of having helped or encouraged the attack.
/.../
Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis, 25, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for trying to go to Syria with one of the attackers, and for his Islamic proselytism on Telegram.
A cousin of one of the attackers, Farid Khelil, was sentenced to 10 years. Prosecutors said he was informed of the attack plan and that he had supported it. He testified at the trial that he is bisexual, non-religious and spent his time drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis, in an apparent effort to distance himself from the religious extremists.
Yassine Sebaihia was sentenced to eight years, after he had crossed France to join one of the attackers for “religion lessons.”
The biggest punishment was handed to the absent defendant: Rachid Kassim, a Frenchman who was a notorious Islamic State recruiter, was sentenced to life in prison. Kassim, believed to have been killed in a drone strike in 2017 in Iraq, is suspected of having used social media to encourage the attack on the priest. Kassim had already received a life sentence in absentia in 2019 for having ordered a failed attack near Notre Dame Cathedral."
https://apnews.com/article/islamic-s...5fc75fd6d971d6
