Azim Epsirkhanov was the first accused to be questioned on the merits on Wednesday. During a long and tortuous interrogation, he admitted to having accompanied the assailant in his quest for weapons, but denied knowing his criminal intentions.
“He never spoke to me about the professor,” in “caricatures”. Azim Epsirkhanov assures him during his interrogation, Wednesday November 20: he was not aware of the deadly plan of Abdoullakh Anzorov, the 18-year-old Chechen refugee who stabbed then beheaded Samuel Paty on October 16, 2020. 23-year-old accused, born in Russia, arrived in France at the age of 9, is tried for complicity in terrorist assassination before the court of special assizes of Paris. He is accused of having helped and accompanied the assailant “actively in research” et “purchasing weapons”, namely a knife and an Airsoft pistol, found near the college where the history and geography teacher worked.
“I have no interest in guns”immediately sweeps away Azim Epsirkhanov, standing in the defendant's box to answer the court's questions. Dressed in a blue suit jacket over a white shirt, with short hair and a collared beard, he took care of his appearance. Just like his speech. “Hello Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen of the court, he begins. I am a very sociable person, I think this is linked to the difficulties I encountered, with the language barrier.” However, he speaks in impeccable French, while the president of the special assize court returns, at the start of the interrogation, to the “charisma” which characterizes him according to his relatives heard as witnesses.
The questions then focus on his friendship with Abdoullakh Anzorov, whom Azim Epsirkhanov describes as “a childhood friend”, “rather lonely”, “met in middle school, in 6th grade”. Both come from the Chechen community of Evreux. By getting to know his comrade's relatives, he discovers a climate of violence, associated with an assiduous practice of the Muslim religion, around the terrorist's father, “hard core of the family, who has control over everything”. At their home, listening to music is prohibited. When this man understands that his son, in 3rd grade, has a Facebook account, he physically attacks him. “I witnessed the beating, it was shocking for me”remembers the accused.
Abdoullakh Anzorov's father does not shake hands with women. His son reproduced this behavior a few years later, his friend noted in June 2020, when he reconnected with him, after having “lost sight of”. He explains this estrangement by a quarrel linked to sports betting. The president of the special assize court appears surprised: in police custody, Azim Epsirkhanov had justified his distancing due to a “change” by the attacker, which the magistrate interpreted as a rejection of his radicalization. “At the time, I just knew that he said five prayers a day,” replies the young man.
Invited to speak on “the unfolding of the facts”, Azim Epsirkhanov launches into a half-hour monologue. He first recounts the day of October 15, the day before the attack, which he spent with Abdoullakh Anzorov and Naïm Boudaoud, one of the co-defendants, also dismissed for complicity in a terrorist assassination. “I take the car, I volunteer to drive and we have a normal day,” he describes. However, from the moment Abdoullakh Anzorov comes to pick him up, he asks Azim Epsirkhanov to go to his cousin to “obtain a weapon”presents him with a wad of 800 euros in exchange. He speaks in Chechen, a language that Naïm Boudaoud does not understand.
Azim Epsirkhanov does so, without expressing astonishment or surprise. The president of the special assize court returns to this point several times: why? Azim Epsirkhanov's response is invariable: according to him, it is about helping the Chechen community of Evreux, who live in the “fear”.
The purchase does not take place because the cousin does not have a weapon. The trio continues its “ordinary day” et “fun”: “We went to wash the car, we put gas in it.” If they then go to McDonald's, take pictures, all smiles, “in a relaxed atmosphere”they first stop at a cutlery. According to what his friend reports, Abdoullakh Anzorov says he wants to give a knife to his collector grandfather.
In the store, he asks “best sharpened” and checks this feature as soon as you get into the car. Azim Epsirkhanov hears a “unpacking noise” in the back and questions him out loud, without insisting. At the start of the afternoon, Abdoullakh Anzorov put Azim Epsirkhanov back on the gun. Without learning more
Between the two moments, “the question of the weapon no longer exists”the accused repeats several times during his interrogation. “It still exists a little bit,” retorts the president of the special assize court, who insists: “But you don't say to yourself 'weapon + knife = alert'? If he wants a weapon, then a knife, that's a lot, right? In any case, you don't make the connection?” Azim Epsirkhanov shakes his head.
The next morning, the terrorist insisted, this time, that his friend reserve a place for him. “Blablacar for his work”. “He tells me about Conflans, I don’t know.” But the reservation “falls into the water”so Azim Epsirkhanov accompanies him to the bus station. The two friends have coffee and eat pastries. Before leaving, Abdoullakh Anzorov says goodbye to him “in an unusual way.” A scene that he described in police custody. “The police ask me: 'What was unusual that day?' I explained this gesture to them: a side hug, but not a hug.”as they noted, he told the audience.
It's his last “contact” with Abdoullakh Anzorov. On the evening of October 16, Azim Epsirkhanov received a message telling him that his friend had been killed by the police. “I try to put on the news, I get angry, I don't know what he did. Then I see the screenshot of the message posted by Anzorov on Twitterrelate-t-il. That's when I see this terrible photo, it terrifies me, I have a double shock.” Although it was not used to murder Samuel Paty, the knife purchased the day before was discovered at the crime scene.
Failing to feel “criminally responsible”, Does Azim Epsirkhanov believe that he has “a share of responsibility” overall in the assassination of Samuel Paty? The attorney general asked him the question after more than six hours of questioning. “I don’t know if I can say if I’m responsible for logistics or anything. I don’t feel responsible,” replies the person concerned. “I had no knowledge of what happened,” he said, two hours later, in response to questions from the civil party. The accused, who faces life imprisonment, claims that he “still aspires to a professional and family life”.
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