Appearing on the witness stand in her beautiful blue suit on Monday, November 18, Fouzia N. began her testimony with words that resonated strongly in the special courtroom in Paris: “I am an educational counselor”, “representative of secularism”, “former of values of the Republic and secularism”…
But these words found a strange echo: Fouzia N. is the mother of one of the main defendants in the trial for the murder of Samuel Paty, Naïm Boudaoud, a weak 22-year-old young man who faces life imprisonment for “complicity.” in a terrorist murder.” . And we were concerned about the heartbreaking paradox between this mother who held high republican principles and the nature of the alleged acts against her son.
“We transmit the values of the Republic, respect and tolerance, this is how we build ourselvesdeclared. Religion has always been synonymous with freedom for us. » Methodically, Fouzia N., whose sister is a chaplain of the Muslim faith in the French army, stressed her conviction that her son was innocent and emotionally recounted the “horrible screams” that he hears every time he is called to prison.
“I’m going to strangle you”
She was back in the courtroom on Thursday, November 21, this time in open court, to hear her son defend himself during his questioning. To understand his story, you must first know that Naïm Boudaoud is not radicalized. He barely knows how to pray and was dating, at the material time, a young Christian woman. But this child born “very premature” and he was self-conscious because of his thinness, he had a friend, he met him at a gym he went to. “gain mass” and trust, a friend who turned his life upside down: Abdoullakh Anzorov, the murderer of Samuel Paty.
The day before the attack, Naïm Boudaoud, the only one among his “friends” from Evreux to own a car, had taken the terrorist to Rouen to meet a friend. During this trip, the three accomplices went to a cutlery shop to buy a knife, which Anzorov allegedly said he wanted to give to his grandfather. And the next day, Naïm Boudaoud left Samuel Paty’s murderer in front of the school, who would be beheaded three hours later.
Did the defendant know that Anzorov was preparing to murder a teacher? His interrogation took place in two stages. During a long monologue, the young man first explained, quite convincingly, how he had experienced this famous day of October 16, 2020. Although he had promised Anzorov that he would take him back to Rouen, early that morning, Naïm Boudaoud finally slept. When he wakes up, he realizes that his “roommate” flooded him with threatening messages: “You’re dead”, “I’m going to strangle you”.
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