At the Paris judicial court,
There is plenty of support in the room. Before the start of the hearing, this Thursday afternoon, the president of the 16th criminal chamber of the Paris judicial court addresses the public: “If there is a difficulty, a noise, a demonstration, I will bring out everyone,” warns the magistrate who fears “turmoil” during the personality interrogation of the main defendant. “There will be no further warning. » Three-day beard and graying hair, light blue t-shirt, hiking pants, Florian D., 39, steps up to the stand. Before starting to answer the judge’s questions, he said he felt “stressed” and felt “a lot of apprehension”. “I feel particularly insulted by the accusations of terrorism of which I am the target,” adds this libertarian activist, his voice breaking with emotion.
“You are here to express yourself,” continues the president who wants to “understand a little better” who the man in front of her is. Florian D. left the school system when he was 18 years old. After “a few odd jobs”, he chose to live “an itinerant life to discover a little of the world”, and became “semi-sedentary”. “I need to move, to move around, to discover places,” he explains. To earn some money, he works as a seasonal worker, especially during the harvest time. With an ex-partner, “a small plot of land, not too expensive” with the objective of “growing vegetables” on it. The couple, who have since separated, installed a “caravan”, “dry toilets”, and a “vegetable garden”. “The place was not so perfect,” emphasizes Florian D., “there was no running water. »
Floral punk
The president then questions him about his alcohol consumption. “When I start, I have trouble stopping,” admits the defendant. If I start drinking at a party, there’s a good chance I’ll end up drunk. » Florian D. indicates that he is not “monitored” to help him fight against his propensity to drink. But he assures the magistrate that he is now “much more careful”. He was also convicted in 2013 for driving under the influence of drugs. “I had smoked a firecracker 24 hours before,” he explains, adding that he only used cannabis very occasionally at the time. He was sentenced to a fine and to follow a road safety awareness course.
Florian D. met three of the other defendants in 2014, on the ZAD of the Sivens dam. “There, I met people I wasn’t used to meeting,” he says. “I was in a more punk environment and there, it was a more hippie environment. But that’s a very stereotypical answer. » These meetings “enriched” him and helped him to “express” his “sensitivity”. On the ZAD, the program mainly consisted of “building yurts and cabins”.
“Life-size role-playing games”
At the start of the 2014 school year, the mobile gendarmes tried to retake the field. “We were losing something and I was distraught. I didn’t know what to do, so sad to see this. I left because it hurt me. » The defendant assures that he has never been violent towards the police. “When they advanced, we retreated,” he whispers, conceding that he “made” the soldiers run. The attorney general recalls that, during the searches, the investigators got their hands on “a shield, a tonfa, leggings”. But Florian D. swears that it was only material used to disguise himself in “life-size role-playing games”.
In 2015, he left for Calais to help migrants “in distress”. He sorts clothes then gives French lessons to foreigners present in the “jungle”. During his stay in the North, police accused him of having insulted them, which he still denies today. According to officials, Florian D. spat on them, speaking more of a coughing fit. He will be sentenced, for these facts, to one month in prison, suspended.
“This whole affair is because I have political ideas”
But it is above all his stay in Rojava – Syrian Kurdistan – in 2017 which intrigues the justice system. The defendant says he was “affected” by the attacks of January 2015 and that he “learned of the existence of Daesh” on this occasion. “I couldn’t remain impassive. » The young man decides to join an anarchist battalion, integrated into the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), to fight the terrorist group. The president asks him if he “handled weapons” during his stay in Syria. “When we arrive, we have a month of training,” he answers. We learn a little about the history of the movement, its practices, we have language classes, a two-week introduction to the use of weapons and military tactics. » But the battles, he swears, were “rare”.
The defendant, who nevertheless “lost many friends”, decided to return to France at the beginning of 2018. He ensures that he is not “traumatized”. Yet he can’t help but sob when remembering what he experienced. “I have the impression that this whole affair is because I have political ideas and because I used weapons in Rojava that this has fallen on me,” he laments. As soon as he returns to France, he notices that road checks are taking more and more time. He is not “serene”. “I told my mother that I was afraid of ending up in prison or being killed. This is what is happening there now. »
Vegetarian…and hunter
“Can we talk about your diet?” » asks the attorney general, who doubts the defendant’s good feelings. The magistrate recalls that he had obtained weapons, in particular rifles. Officially, he was supposed to use it to go hunting. Florian D. is, however, vegetarian.