Nine members of a small ultra-right group which called itself OAS, are accused of having considered attacks, potentially against Christophe Castaner, – JP PARIENTE / SIPA
The anti-terrorism investigating judges referred nine men from a small ultra-right group to the criminal court. The group that called itself the OAS, is accused of having considered attacks, potentially against Muslims or against Christophe Castaner. The individuals will be tried for “terrorist criminal association”. Three of the men, minors at the time of the facts, will go before the juvenile court.
Three of them, including the self-proclaimed leader of the group, Logan Nisin, are also fired for “theft in connection with a terrorist company”, for having stolen a car. Logan Nisin, the only protagonist of the case still in pre-trial detention, will also appear for “apologia for terrorism”.
Weapons and ammunition seized
On June 28, 2017, the young man, then aged 21, was arrested in Vitrolles (Bouches-du-Rhône). Recorded S since 2014 for his membership in various ultra-right movements, including the Popular Movement for a New Dawn (MNPA) or the royalist organization Action Française, he notably led a group on Facebook called “Les Amis et Supporters d ‘Anders Behring Breivik ”, the author of the massacre which killed 77 people in Norway in 2011, according to the order of the judges.
During a search, investigators seized weapons and ammunition, as well as documents which revealed that he was “at the head” of a structure called the Organization of Social Armies, whose acronym, OAS, was the same as that of the Secret Army Organization, responsible for a bloody campaign against the independence of Algeria in the 1960s.
Mélenchon, Castaner and Kebabs for targets
In October 2017, eight members of the group were in turn arrested and indicted for criminal terrorist association. During his police custody, Logan Nisin had indicated that the group had considered attacking the leader of rebellious France Jean-Luc Mélenchon during the presidential election but having given up knowing that he would not be elected.
On the other hand, he said he had targeted the macronist Christophe Castaner, at the time mayor of Forcalquier, and had considered attacking a flea market, kebab restaurants or the site of the great mosque of Vitrolles. But the young man had also said that after thinking about it, he concluded that the risks of dying or ending up in prison were far too high.
Temptation or attempt?
“We are really in this case facing a huge fantasy, where we mix temptation and attempt,” responded to Logan Nisin’s lawyer, Me Eric Bourlion, stressing that the temptation was “a desire” and the attempt to ‘a “criminal offense”.
The threat of the ultra-right, which has resurfaced in reaction to the wave of jihadist attacks, increasingly worries the authorities. Five other anti-terrorism judicial reports concerning this movement since 2017 are still in progress.