Prosecutors have called for a life sentence without parole for the Frenchman on trial for holding French journalists and aid workers hostage in Syria for the Islamic State armed group. The four other men on trial face sentences of 20 years to life.
Benjamin Chambre and the anti-terrorist prosecution team demanded a life sentence for Mehdi Nemmouche, with a minimum 22 years without parole, during an eight-hour hearing on Wednesday in a Paris court.
Calling Nemmouche "a real sociopath devoid of all empathy”, Chambre said he deserves a sentence “that definitively protects society”.
Paris trial begins over 2013 Islamic State kidnappings of Westerners in Syria
Nemmouche, who has claimed he was an Islamic State "fighter" but not a "jailer", is already serving life in prison for the deadly attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May 2014.
Four French journalists – Didier François, Edouard Elias, Nicolas Hénin and Pierre Torres – identified Nemmouche as one of their captors when they were held in Syria from June 2013 to April 2014.
Nemmouche is on trial alongside four other men, including Abdelmalek Tanem, for whom prosecutors have requested a 30-year prison sentence.
They said that while he was “less megalomaniac” than Nemmouche, he was part of the small group of French-speaking jailers.
Future of US troops in Syria in question, under pressure from Turkey and Israel
Prosecutors have requested the maximum 20-year sentence for Kais Al Abdallah, a Syrian identified as the former second in command of the Islamic State in Raqqa, who is also on trial in France for holding French hostages.
And they have asked for life in prison for the two men on trial who are presumed dead, Salim Benghalem and Oussama Atar. The latter was already convicted and sentenced to life in prison for ordering the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.
The trial, which is due to run until Friday, continues on Thursday with the defence.
(with AFP)
