(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) The Paris criminal court sentenced Friday a French militant to eight years behind bars for joining Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in northern Mali between 2012 and 2013.
Gilles Le Guen, 60, was arrested in April 2013 by French Special Forces in Timbuktu, Mali, where he lived for several years with his Moroccan wife and five children.
The conviction of the former captain in the merchant navy marks the first time an anti-terrorist law passed in 2012 has been applied, allowing the prosecution of French nationals suspected of "taking part in terrorist activities abroad or training under terrorist organizations".
The French militant came under the radar of foreign intelligence in September 2012 when he appeared in a photograph from an AQIM meeting.
In October 2012, Le Guen issued threats against the French and U.S. presidents as well as the United Nations in a video over their intervention against militant groups in Mali's north.
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