US embassy cable - 05PARIS1732

UNCLAS PARIS 001732 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/CT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, PGOV, KJUS, FR 
SUBJECT: DJAMEL BEGHAL CONVICTED, RECEIVES 10-YEAR SENTENCE 
 
1. (U) Summary: Djamel Beghal, the ringleader of a group 
arrested in 2001 on suspicion of planning to bomb the U.S. 
Embassy in Paris, was convicted March 15 of "terrorist 
conspiracy," and received a maximum 10-year sentence.  His 
five accomplices were all found guilty as well, and received 
sentences ranging from one year to nine years in prison.  End 
summary. 
 
2. (U) Beghal was arrested July 28, 2001 at the Dubai airport 
in the United Arab Emirates.  After being questioned by local 
authorities, he was transferred to France and charged with 
"terrorist conspiracy."  A police and judicial investigation 
opened September 10, 2001 accused Beghal and five accomplices 
of planning to attack the U.S. Embassy in Paris with a 
bomb-laden truck driven by a suicide bomber.  The 
investigation, led by investigating judges Jean-Louis 
Bruguiere and Jean-Francois Ricard, ended in 2004 and the 
trial of Beghal and his accomplices began at the end of 2004. 
 
3. (U) During the six-week trial, Beghal maintained his 
innocence, and said a confession he had given in Dubai was 
coerced by torture.  Furthermore, he said the 45,000 page 
dossier compiled by the terrorist investigating judges was 
filled with nothing more than proof that Beghal and his five 
co-defendants were friends.  On February 9, the prosecutor 
requested that Beghal and Kamel Daoudi receive a 10-year 
sentence, Nabil Bounour and Abdelkrim Lefkir receive eight 
years, Rachid Benmessahel receive six years and Johan Bonte 
receive five years.  In the decision announced March 15, the 
judge gave Beghal the maximum ten-year sentence.  He gave 
Daoudi nine years, Bounour and Lefkir six years, Benmessahel 
three years and Bonte one year.  Immediately after the 
verdict, lawyers for Beghal and Daoudi declared they would 
appeal.  One of Beghal's lawyers, Jean-Alain Michel, said the 
verdict was a "judicial parody" and "our judicial 
Guantanamo." 
 
4. (SBU) Comment: Judicial contacts and Embassy observers to 
the Beghal trial noticed that things were not going well for 
the ringleader when, from the very beginning, he engaged in 
frequent (and tense) arguments with the presiding judge. 
Today's decision is a clear win for the anti-terrorism 
specialists within the French government.  End comment. 
Leach