West News Wire: Four men were given prison terms ranging from five to fifteen years by a French court for preparing an attack on Paris’ famous Champs Elysees promenade.
A fifth was let go because he had already completed his sentence in pretrial detention.
The five defendants, who ranged in age from 17 to 39, were detained in 2019 on suspicion of plotting to attack police officers and perhaps citizens on an avenue close to the presidential palace.
After a trial that was conducted in secret, everyone except one were found guilty of “terrorist conspiracy” on Thursday.
The oldest member of the group received a 15-year prison term, while the second received a 12-year sentence.
He had been arrested in Germany in 2017 when he was just 15 for trying to join Daesh in war-torn Syria.
Investigators said he had planned to attack a police patrol at the entrance to the Champs Elysees and “commit a massacre.”
A fourth, a Chechen who was also a minor at the time, was handed a five-year term for not speaking up about the plan.
A fifth was sentenced to five years in prison, of which 18 months was suspended, over financing the plot, but walked free as he had already served that time in pre-trial custody.
