Sidi Ahmed Ghlam: Murder trial begins of man who ‘abandoned plan to bomb church after shooting himself in leg’

October 6, 2020

A man who allegedly abandoned a plan to bomb a church after shooting himself in the leg has gone on trial accused of murder and attempted terrorist murder.

Sidi Ahmed Ghlam allegedly killed Aurelie Chatelain in her car, which was set on fire near the Saint Cyr and Sainte Julitte church in the Paris suburb of Villejuif in April 2015.

Soon afterwards the Algerian man, 29, named in reports from the time as Sid Ahmed Ghlam, called for help, claiming to have been shot near his home, not far from the church.

Police believe Ghlam shot Chatelain and was in fact planning to carry out an attack against the Villejuif church. According to investigators, Ghlam had to give up attacking the church after accidentally shooting himself in the leg while trying to put his weapon back in his belt. Ghlam told investigators that he intentionally shot himself in the thigh, having second thoughts about carrying out the planned massacre.

He says Chatelain was accidentally killed by an accomplice named “Hamza.” None of the other suspects has mentioned this supposed accomplice.

Many weapons were found in his car and at home, and his computers showed frequent links to Syria. Ghlam acknowledged to investigators having been in contact and guided by three IS operatives: Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Abdelnasser Benyoucef and Samir Nouad.

Benyoucef was also the alleged sponsor of Amédy Coulibaly, the gunman in the January 2015 kosher supermarket attack. Benyoucef and Nouad, a member of Algerian Islamist militant group GIA in the 1990s, are believed to have died in suicide attacks in Syria. They are being tried in absentia in the Villejuif case.

The third sponsor, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed by police after allegedly coordinating the worst attacks on France since World War II, coordinated assaults on Nov. 13, 2015, on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France’s national stadium and multiple cafes.

Ghlam, who faces life in prison if convicted, denies wrongdoing. Nine other defendants are being tried alongside him. Seven are believed to have provided logistical assistance such as weapons and protective vests.