Arrested CERN Physicist Gets 5 Years For Terror Plot

An anonymous reader sends this followup to news we discussed in 2009 of a CERN physicist who was arrested for allegedly being in contact with al-Qaeda. The physicist, Adlene Hicheur, has now been sentenced to five years in prison. "He came under suspicion when threatening messages were sent to President Sarkozy in early 2008. The security services uncovered a series of email exchanges between Hicheur and an alleged al-Qaeda member called Mustapha Debchi. After his arrest in 2009 police found a large quantity of Islamist literature at his parents' home. At the start of his trial the 35-year-old scientist admitted that he had been going through a psychologically 'turbulent' time in his life when he wrote the emails. He had suffered a serious back injury, for which he had been taking morphine. But he always denied he intended to carry out any attacks."

Re:Aside from this strange story.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's a typical courtroom sketch in France, pencil and watercolor on paper. There are a handful of journalists specialized in courtroom sketch in France, so you've got to recognize their artwork. This one is signed Benoit Peyrucq from Agence France Presse. Just google his name to find more drawings from his hand.

More examples of French courtrooom sketches
http://www.iconovox.com/blog/2009/09/29/le-dessin-au-tribunal/ [iconovox.com]
http://traitsdejustice.bpi.fr/home.php?lg=fr&id=78 [traitsdejustice.bpi.fr]

Re:I wonder about the sentence disparity

[chadenright]

We're selectively breeding for an inability to commit murder. Social engineering at its finest!

Re:Thought Crime

[Anonymous Coward]

At what point is it acceptable for them to step in?

When you get in the van? When you buy the fertilizer? When you put them together into something that could explode?

How long are we allowed to monitor you? When you bought the van in the first place?

Thought != Stated intentions.

[TapeCutter]

Issuing death threats in writing or over the phone is a crime in most places, when done in a manner that can be recorded a direct threat of violence ceases to be a thought crime and becomes a stated intention, (metaphorically, it's a declaration of war). OTHOH, 5yrs is way over the top for such a trivial offence against the peace the rest of us actively maintain, especially since he had time to act on his threats but chose not to. A weekend in the slammer would be more than enough to convince him he's not as 'smart' as he thinks he is.

I think more fair chunk of the violence in the world could be averted if someone steps in early and cools things down with a glimpse of the consequences (or a distractingly funny one liner), but 5yrs is stepping in with jackboots since it's longer than most people get for carrying out their verbal threats of violence.

In other words, there are no GoodGuys(TM) in TFA, it's not a matter of choosing who's right because neither side has a moral or ethical leg to stand on.