A single-track YouTube monologue (recorded Feb 16, 2018) reacting to the release of Jawad Ben Daoud, alleged to have housed the November 13 attackers. The speaker recounts that the November 13 attacks caused 130 deaths and nearly 500 injuries, describes that two co-defendants were convicted (sentences of five years and four years, the latter with one year suspended), and issues a sharp critique that French courts are too lenient on logistical/support actors in terrorism. The speaker contrasts France’s approach with harsher responses in Russia and Algeria and warns that light sentences send a permissive signal to terrorists.
Questions this video answers
February 16, 2018
The November 13 attacks (Paris, 2015)
130 dead and nearly 500 injured
One received five years in prison; the other received four years (with one year suspended, described as effectively three years if fully served).
Hello, my friends. So the plan is a bit unusual because I'm sitting in the back. I tried in the front, but the sun is so strong that after three minutes the camera overheated and stopped. So I'm going to stay here. I can't move to a place where there's no sun because the parking lot is packed. That's all. What do I mean? There was a piece of news that really shocked me yesterday. It was the release of Mr. Jawad Ben Daoud, what the press called the terrorist's host. In fact, I was shocked not only by his release, but there was something else as well. If you look at the details of the case, there is something absolutely horrible. It's that Mr. Jawad wasn't being tried alone. There were two other defendants who were with him, and he was accused of having helped the terrorists of November 13th. I'm just recalling this because there have been so many attacks in France, we don't know what we're talking about. Let me remind you that These attacks left 130,000, 130 dead and nearly 500 injured. And so these people were before the court because they had provided logistics, they had provided support, aid, housing and other things to the terrorists. Okay? So we expected the justice system to hand down exemplary sentences, sentences commensurate with the sentence. But in fact, no. What shocked me was not only that the terrorist's host was released, but the fact that the other two defendants, because he was declared innocent for reasons I don't know, were declared innocent, were released. But the other two who were with him were not considered innocent. On the contrary, they were found guilty at the end of the trial. What kind of sentence did they receive, in your opinion? Well, one of them got five years in prison and another got four years in prison. Let's be clear. One year suspended because we thought four years in prison was a bit too much. And then we had to lighten it by adding one year suspended on top of that, so that he gets out after three, assuming he serves his entire sentence. But in reality, three years in prison means he'll probably get 18 months in prison again and again if he's unlucky. So today, the prosecution is appealing for the Jod case. The prosecution is appealing, but what are we talking about? What's the point of this appeal? It's not about the guy getting a 150 year prison sentence. No. That means that even if the prosecution wins the appeal, it will be a second slap in the face for France, because the guy will be sentenced in the same way as his accomplices were. That means he might get away with two years in prison, three years in prison, or even a suspended sentence. Do you see what I mean? And that is absolutely terrible because this story is being watched by a lot of terrorists, terrorist groups in France, elsewhere, radicals, jihadist groups and others. And how are they going to see it? How are they going to read it? Well, to put it very simply, France will be to terrorism what a tax haven is to finance. That means that they will see that on the one hand, the perpetrators, the terrorist, the one at the end of the chain, the one who slits the throat, the one who shoots that one anyway, when he goes out in the morning, he goes out to die. So in any case scenario will never face a court. But what is left there remains his support network, his logistics network, the people who provide the car, the weapon, the money. And today, the French justice system is sending a signal that even when there are 130 deaths, it is still the equivalent of a jetliner crashing. That even when there are 130 deaths and 500 injured, in the end, the people who participated in this in one way or another deserve sentences that are less than what VAT fraud would cause. Do you see what I mean? It is absolutely abominable. Because how do terrorists operate? They observe the balance of power. So they will observe the reaction of the French authorities. Did they hit hard? Or did the people who were directly or indirectly involved in the attack receive life sentences that guarantee that they will die in prison? Or did they just get a little slap on the wrist and then they were released? That's the situation France finds itself in today. Take Russia, for example. Russia has had a few hostage situations and it took action. The authorities acted aggressively. But when someone takes hostages in Russia and they know it, they're not going to bring them pizza. They. They're going to run into them and kill them. And they know it for sure. There are previous incidents that prove it. Okay, so what do the terrorists do? They know that there's no point in taking hostages in Russia. They know that it won't last for six months or three weeks or whatever. They know that it's going to happen very quickly. And so they don't touch the hostages in Russia. Same thing in Algeria. Algeria follows the same policy at the time. Do you remember when France participated in the liquidation of Gaddafi in Libya? Gaddafi, the great friend of French presidents. Gaddafi, who was extending or building his tent, or George 5. Okay. And who financed, who brought everyone to Paris place? Gaddafi was the man who knew too Much. And at one point the French air force was sent to bomb for Al Qaeda and brought him down. Libya turned into the mess that we know today, New Zealand. And so in Algeria, there was a hostage taking at an oil station run by BP. The Algerian authorities took 800 people hostage. The Algerian authorities sent 37 terrorists. They sent 6,000 men and they invaded the place. The terrorists died. There were also 40 hostages killed. But it taught terrorists around the world a lesson that taking hostages in Algeria might not be the best idea you could have. So now what message was sent to terrorists around the world about France? Is it an interesting target or not? That's the question. Because that's what they're up to. And there you have it. So I find it absolutely, I find it absolutely abominable. And it's true that this country beats itself every time it falls. And we say to ourselves, well there's probably nothing lower it can do. They can't go any lower than that. Well, no. Yet another story comes along that shows us that it's not over. And this story of ya, even if the prosecutor's office appealed, it risks ending up in a second slap. Because on appeal, even if the appeal works, even if the appeal works, the terrorist will not get 150 years like he does in the United States. No, it's going to take 18 months, it's going to take 24 months. That's all. Okay, so that's it. I don't know. I can't really make sense of all this and I think few people can do it today. But France is literally on its knees hoping that the enemy will be maniacal. But this type of enemy once again does not respect people on their knees. When a nation is on its knees, it tramples on them even more. It excites them even more. That's what France or the French authorities don't seem to understand. There you have it, my friends. I'll leave you because it's starting to get a little hot here and I'll come back another time. Have a good weekend, yeah.
