Former CERN nuclear
scientist
convicted of terror plot gets five years in jail
May 4, 2012 – 9:33 AM ET
BERTRAND LANGLOIS/AFP/Getty Images
Patrick Baudoin, lawyer of Franco-Algerian physicist Adlene Hicheur who worked for Cern (European Centre for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland, arrives for the judgment of the trial on May 4, 2012 at the Paris Courthouse.
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PARIS — A Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist was sentenced Friday to five years in jail — with one year suspended — for plotting terror attacks in France.
Police arrested Adlene Hicheur, a 35-year-old researcher studying the universe’s birth — the Big Bang — at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in October 2009 after intercepting his emails.
His father embraced him in the Paris court room before he was taken away to serve his term in prison. Hicheur has already spent two and a half years in jail while awaiting trial.
Hicheur admitted at the start of his trial in late March that he was going through a “turbulent” time when he wrote the mails but denied he intended to carry out attacks.
The trial of Hicheur, who was charged with criminal association as part of a terrorist enterprise, began a week after police shot dead Franco-Algerian Mohamed Merah for killing seven people in and around the city of Toulouse.
Prosecutors focused on emails between Hicheur and an alleged al-Qaeda contact.
Hicheur told the court the emails were written while his “physical and psychological state” was impaired while he was on sick leave for a slipped disc.
Following Hicheur’s arrest at his parents’ home near CERN, the research institute which lies on the Franco-Swiss border northwest of Geneva, police discovered a trove of al-Qaeda and Islamist militant literature.
France’s DCRI domestic intelligence agency’s suspicions were raised after a statement from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was sent to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Elysee Palace in early 2008.
Following the message police carried out surveillance on several email accounts including Hicheur’s and his exchanges with Mustapha Debchi, an alleged AQIM representative living in Algeria.
In the emails Hicheur suggested “possible objectives in Europe and particularly in France,” mentioning for example a French military base at Cran-Gevrier, close to CERN.
Asked by Debchi if he was “prepared to work in a unit becoming active in France,” Hicheur replied: “The answer is of course YES.”
Magistrates investigating the case said the exchanges “crossed the line of simple debate of political or religious ideas to enter the sphere of terrorist violence.”
They say the accused “knowingly agreed with Mustapha Debchi to set up an operational cell ready to carry out terrorist acts in Europe and in France.”
BERTRAND LANGLOIS/AFP/Getty Images
Hilam Hicheur (C) and Saïd Hicheur (R), respectively brother and father of Adlene Hicheur who worked for CERN http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/04/former-cern-nuclear-scientist-convicted-of-terror-plot-gets-five-years-in-jail/
4 May 2012 Last updated at 10:54 ET
Continue reading the main story
Hicheur had an alleged contact in al-Qaeda but denied intending to carry out attacks
Adlene Hicheur was arrested in 2009 after police intercepted his emails to an alleged contact in al-Qaeda.A French court has sentenced a scientist at the prestigious Cern laboratory to five years in prison for plotting terrorist attacks.
The emails suggested Algerian-born Hicheur was willing to be part of an "active terrorist unit", attacking targets in France.
Defence lawyers argued that their client had never been part of a plot.
Hicheur, who is a particle physicist, worked as a researcher studying the origins of the universe at Cern.
His father embraced him in the Paris courtroom before he was taken away to prison.
Suspicion
Hicheur has already spent two and a half years in jail while awaiting trial.
He came under suspicion when threatening messages were sent to President Sarkozy in early 2008.
The security services uncovered a series of email exchanges between Hicheur and an alleged al-Qaeda member called Mustapha Debchi.
After his arrest in 2009 police found a large quantity of Islamist literature at his parents' home.
At the start of his trial the 35-year-old scientist admitted that he had been going through a psychologically "turbulent" time in his life when he wrote the emails.
He had suffered a serious back injury, for which he had been taking morphine.
But he always denied he intended to carry out any attacks.
His lawyer, Patrick Baudouin, described the verdict as "scandalous".
"Everything has been done to demonise him," he said.
Hicheur has not yet decided whether or not to appeal.
If he decides not to, with time off for good behaviour, he should be released soon, Mr Baudouin said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17956202
BERTRAND LANGLOIS/AFP/Getty Images
Patrick Baudoin, lawyer of Franco-Algerian physicist Adlene Hicheur who worked for Cern (European Centre for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland, arrives for the judgment of the trial on May 4, 2012 at the Paris Courthouse.
PARIS — A Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist was sentenced Friday to five years in jail — with one year suspended — for plotting terror attacks in France.
Police arrested Adlene Hicheur, a 35-year-old researcher studying the universe’s birth — the Big Bang — at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in October 2009 after intercepting his emails.
His father embraced him in the Paris court room before he was taken away to serve his term in prison. Hicheur has already spent two and a half years in jail while awaiting trial.
Hicheur admitted at the start of his trial in late March that he was going through a “turbulent” time when he wrote the mails but denied he intended to carry out attacks.
The trial of Hicheur, who was charged with criminal association as part of a terrorist enterprise, began a week after police shot dead Franco-Algerian Mohamed Merah for killing seven people in and around the city of Toulouse.
Prosecutors focused on emails between Hicheur and an alleged al-Qaeda contact.
Hicheur told the court the emails were written while his “physical and psychological state” was impaired while he was on sick leave for a slipped disc.
Following Hicheur’s arrest at his parents’ home near CERN, the research institute which lies on the Franco-Swiss border northwest of Geneva, police discovered a trove of al-Qaeda and Islamist militant literature.
France’s DCRI domestic intelligence agency’s suspicions were raised after a statement from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was sent to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Elysee Palace in early 2008.
Following the message police carried out surveillance on several email accounts including Hicheur’s and his exchanges with Mustapha Debchi, an alleged AQIM representative living in Algeria.
In the emails Hicheur suggested “possible objectives in Europe and particularly in France,” mentioning for example a French military base at Cran-Gevrier, close to CERN.
Asked by Debchi if he was “prepared to work in a unit becoming active in France,” Hicheur replied: “The answer is of course YES.”
Magistrates investigating the case said the exchanges “crossed the line of simple debate of political or religious ideas to enter the sphere of terrorist violence.”
They say the accused “knowingly agreed with Mustapha Debchi to set up an operational cell ready to carry out terrorist acts in Europe and in France.”
BERTRAND LANGLOIS/AFP/Getty Images
Hilam Hicheur (C) and Saïd Hicheur (R), respectively brother and father of Adlene Hicheur who worked for CERN http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/04/former-cern-nuclear-scientist-convicted-of-terror-plot-gets-five-years-in-jail/
4 May 2012 Last updated at 10:54 ET
Continue reading the main storyHicheur had an alleged contact in al-Qaeda but denied intending to carry out attacks
Adlene Hicheur was arrested in 2009 after police intercepted his emails to an alleged contact in al-Qaeda.A French court has sentenced a scientist at the prestigious Cern laboratory to five years in prison for plotting terrorist attacks.
4 May 2012 Last updated at 10:54 ET
Continue reading the main story
Hicheur had an alleged contact in al-Qaeda but denied intending to carry out attacksAdlene Hicheur was arrested in 2009 after police intercepted his emails to an alleged contact in al-Qaeda.A French court has sentenced a scientist at the prestigious Cern laboratory to five years in prison for plotting terrorist attacks.
The emails suggested Algerian-born Hicheur was willing to be part of an "active terrorist unit", attacking targets in France.
Defence lawyers argued that their client had never been part of a plot.
Hicheur, who is a particle physicist, worked as a researcher studying the origins of the universe at Cern.
His father embraced him in the Paris courtroom before he was taken away to prison.
Suspicion
Hicheur has already spent two and a half years in jail while awaiting trial.
He came under suspicion when threatening messages were sent to President Sarkozy in early 2008.
The security services uncovered a series of email exchanges between Hicheur and an alleged al-Qaeda member called Mustapha Debchi.
After his arrest in 2009 police found a large quantity of Islamist literature at his parents' home.
At the start of his trial the 35-year-old scientist admitted that he had been going through a psychologically "turbulent" time in his life when he wrote the emails.
He had suffered a serious back injury, for which he had been taking morphine.
But he always denied he intended to carry out any attacks.
His lawyer, Patrick Baudouin, described the verdict as "scandalous".
"Everything has been done to demonise him," he said.
Hicheur has not yet decided whether or not to appeal.
If he decides not to, with time off for good behaviour, he should be released soon, Mr Baudouin said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17956202
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17956202
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