Saint-Étienne: a man claiming to want to “die as a martyr” indicted and imprisoned

A 35-year-old man, who said he wanted to die as a martyr on social networks, shooting in the air with a firearm, was indicted for “criminal conspiracy”, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office (Pnat) said this Wednesday, confirming information from franceinfo.

Placed in pre-trial detention, the suspect is of Algerian nationality, in an irregular situation, adds a source close to the case. Unknown to the police, he was arrested on Saturday afternoon in Saint-Étienne (Loire), where he had been living for several months, in the working-class district of Beaubrun.

The investigations “made it possible to identify a man, aged 35, appearing on two videos broadcast in short order on social networks, on the one hand evoking his wish to die as a martyr and using a firearm, shooting in the air in the street, on the other hand”, according to the anti-terrorism prosecution.

Five people were taken into custody in this case, but the others were released, said the Pnat.

Reinforced security around places of worship

The Pnat opened an investigation on Friday, the start of the Easter weekend, into “terrorist criminal association with a view to preparing one or more crimes of personal injury”.

The investigations, also relating to “possession of weapons, elements of weapons and ammunition of category B in relation to a terrorist enterprise”, had been entrusted to the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) and the National Directorate of the Judicial Police (DNPJ). A judicial investigation was opened this Wednesday for these same leaders.

At the end of March, the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, asked prefects and police and gendarmerie officials for “extreme vigilance” to ensure the security of places of worship during the Christian festival of Easter and the Jewish Passover, Pessah. For the moment, the Pnat does not mention a place of worship which would have been targeted by this suspect.

The Minister of the Interior stressed that these celebrations are taking place in a context of “a very clear increase in tensions at the international level” and a “high level of the terrorist threat” in France.

Passover takes place this year from the evening of Wednesday April 1st to Thursday April 9th. Easter fell on Sunday April 5 for Catholics and Protestants, with celebrations starting on the evening of Saturday April 4, with the Orthodox celebrating the resurrection of Christ on April 12.