Life sentence confirmed on appeal for Sid-Ahmed Ghlam, absent at the hearing

The student, “in a state of stress”, according to the president of the special assize court Emmanuelle Bessone, refused to appear at the hearing for the statement of the judgment.

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Posted on 10/28/2021 10:40 PM

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The sentence is now confirmed. Life imprisonment was again pronounced Thursday, October 28, against Algerian student Sid-Ahmed Ghlam. The latter was on appeal for the murder of a young woman and an abortive attack on a church in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne) in April 2015.

The student, “in a state of stress”, according to the president of the special assize court Emmanuelle Bessone, refused to appear at the hearing for the statement of the judgment. He refused to leave his cell at the Palais de Justice to hear the verdict obliging the special assize court of Paris to send a bailiff to notify him of its judgment.

“This demonstrates the cowardice of this individual who ultimately proved unable to confront the family of Aurélie Chatelain,” commented Me Antoine Casubolo-Ferro, the lawyer for the murdered young woman.

The court was finally less severe than the requisitions of the attorneys general of the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) who had called for the maximum sentence provided by law against the accused. Although Sid-Ahmed Ghlam receives life imprisonment, as in the first instance, he is no longer subject to a 22-year security sentence. However, his inadmissibility following his imprisonment was confirmed.

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