French jihadist tried in Paris for beheadings and executions in Syria
The 32-year-old Osman Garindu, from Montpellier, is being tried for the execution of Iranians and beheadings during ISIS's rule in Syria. He faces a life sentence.
Trial of former ISIS member in Paris for executions and beheadings in Syria
The trial of French former jihadist Osman Garindu began before Paris's specialist criminal court, with the defendant accused of murders committed when the Islamic State controlled territory in Syria and Iraq, according to Politis.
Garindu, 32, is from Montpellier and is accused of the public execution of two Iranians in 2015 in al-Qaryatayn, in central Syria, as well as the beheading of a third victim at a time and place that remain unclear. He faces a life sentence. The trial is expected to conclude on 21 September.
Mobile phone photographs at the centre of the investigation
Central to the prosecution's case is a series of photographs found on a mobile phone believed to have belonged to the defendant's wife. In one of them, a man wearing a head covering is shown posing in front of a beheaded corpse, holding the severed head at his feet, with blood on his hands and a raised finger — a characteristic gesture of allegiance to ISIS.
The photographs were provided to French investigators by American authorities, who led the international coalition against ISIS. Garindu has admitted that the man in the image resembles him, but denies that he is the perpetrator, claiming it could be one of his brothers. Experts have been unable to identify the person depicted with certainty.
Other photographs from the same phone show him smiling, with his hands on the shoulders of two other jihadists — Frenchmen Yassin Retoun and Omar Diallo, who are believed to be dead — posing in front of beheaded corpses. They also show him inside a van in which the two Iranian victims were transported to the site of the execution. He has himself admitted that he was present during the execution.
Childhood in the context of radicalisation
Garindu grew up in a family deeply steeped in jihadist ideology. At the age of 12, he left school to work with his father. He left for Syria in 2012, at the age of 18, initially joining the al-Nusra Front — the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda — and subsequently the Islamic State.
His father, a Franco-Spanish man who had converted to Islam, was killed in 2016 as a suicide bomber in the caliphate. Two of his brothers also lost their lives in battle.
Along with some 1,500 other French nationals who travelled to the territory of the self-proclaimed caliphate, Garindu fought there until his arrest. He was deported from Turkey to France in 2020. In the caliphate he married and had two children.
Previous conviction and impending new trial
In 2017, while still in Syria, he was convicted in absentia to 15 years' imprisonment for joining ISIS, taking part in battles, and inciting Muslims in France to carry out violent acts. On 22 September, a new trial is due to begin for the same charges, this time with the defendant present in court.
The current trial is expected to revive memories from the 2010s decade, when Daesh imposed a regime of terror across extensive areas of Iraq and Syria.
Source: Politis