An unusual trial begins Tuesday, September 16, before the Paris Children’s Court. Three teenagers, including two schoolchildren at Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, are being tried for conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism.
The three young people who are being tried in Paris from this Tuesday, for three days, for criminal conspiracy to prepare an act of terrorism were between 14 and 16 years old when they were arrested , in August 2023. They were planning in particular an attack against the Israeli embassy in Brussels, Belgium.
It was the Tours rectorate that raised the alarm following the suspicious behavior of one of these teenagers, a 9th-grade student at the Pablo Neruda middle school in Saint-Pierre-des-Corps. In June 2023, this boy sang violent religious songs in front of his classmates linked to terrorism . An investigation was opened. In the phone of this middle school student, who had satisfactory academic results, the police discovered numerous links with jihadist networks via encrypted messaging services like Telegram. They then spotted another boy from the middle school, a 9th-grade student, and a teenager from Loire-Atlantique.
The three teenagers spent hours on social media and the internet, watching violent videos and beheadings. They also tested explosives and looked for ways to obtain weapons. They also researched their target, the Israeli embassy in Brussels, with the intention of attacking police officers and Jews. According to a source close to the investigation, this proven radicalization and a sufficiently advanced attack plan justify the indictment of these determined teenagers, even though, according to investigators, their plan appeared unfeasible and doomed to failure.
The trial will be held behind closed doors until Thursday evening. The three teenagers face up to five years in prison .
