at the opening of the trial, the very laudatory portrait of Reunionese Louqmane Ingar

A young man with a slender figure approaches the bar. Short hair and brown eyes, Louqmane Ingar wears a simple white t-shirt and a black jacket. Polite, he presented well before the special assize court of Paris, where he was tried for terrorist conspiracy. With seven other people, he is accused of having played a role in the events which led to the death of history and geography professor Samuel Paty, on October 16, 2020 in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines).

Opened Monday morning, in the impressive Paris courthouse, the trial began the long interrogations of the defendants. On the second day of the hearing, Tuesday November 5, the court began examining the personality and background of the eight accused. Five are in pre-trial detention and follow the session from the box. The three others, including Louqmane Ingar, appear free.

At the end of the afternoon, the president of the court summoned several personality investigators, who spoke with the indictees to tell who they are. Are they well surrounded? Do they have a good relationship with their parents? Their friends? Do they have a chaotic school career or, on the contrary, a remarkable one?

Arrested on November 2, 2020, a fortnight after the macabre assassination of Samuel Paty by a young radicalized Chechen, Abdoullakh Anzorov, Reunionese Louqmane Ingar spent a year and four days in pre-trial detention, in Fleury-Mérogis (Essonne) . Far from Saint-Denis, where he grew up. He was released from prison in November 2021, and is now placed under judicial supervision.

After the attack, investigators discovered that he regularly exchanged jihadist content with the perpetrator. According to the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT), he even considered going to wage jihad with terrorist groups, in Syria or Afghanistan. Concerning the Samuel Paty affair, the PNAT accuses the young man, aged 18 at the time of the events, of having supported the terrorist in his attack plan, even wishing him “success”.

However, it is not a potential jihadist who appears before the court. But a young man who addresses magistrates and lawyers in a very cordial manner. How could this boy who never had any problems with the law get to this point? His personality survey clearly did not provide any answers. It even raises several questions, so laudatory is the portrait that has been painted of it.

The personality investigator, who met the young man when he was incarcerated, described an individual “cordial” et “respectful”. She asked him about his childhood, his parents, his education, his romantic relationships… What emerged was a catalog of laudatory adjectives. “Discreet, sensitive, humanist”confided his father to the investigator, who also spoke with his relatives. “Poli, humble, rend service”confirmed his mother. “We are very close”describes his grandfather… Hardworking, helpful, well educated, faithful in friendship, mature, kind, obedient… The list is long.

Born in 2002 in Saint-Denis de La Réunion, Louqmane Ingar grew up in a family very attached to education. Moreover, on my mother's side, many uncles and aunts work in education. His parents, who married young, had two children. Louqmane is their greatest.

Five years after his birth, a second boy was born. The two brothers are very close. But a tragedy struck the family: in 2014, the youngest, aged 7, was diagnosed with spinal cord cancer. He was quickly taken care of, and was even sent to France for treatment. But, within a few months, the illness won. The boy dies.

This loss affects Louqmane. But the young teenager, who was only 12 years old at the time, decided to feed on this sadness to find a new “taste for life”. And a vocation: he wants to help others. After a perfect academic career (he followed part of his schooling in private Catholic establishments, well renowned on the island), he decided to become a nurse.

Unfortunately, he failed to join the Nursing Training Institute (IFSI) in Saint-Denis, in Reunion. Its second choice is therefore the IFSI of Kremlin-Bicêtre, in the Paris region. On the cusp of his 18th birthday, the young Reunionese leaves the family and island cocoon and settles in France.

Nothing stands out in his journey. Louqmane Ingar has never had any problems with the law. It seems well integrated. He has a family he can count on… Only his romantic relationship with a young teenager – his “first love at first sight”he says – between 2017 and 2020 reveals a small flaw. He is jealous and possessive. She too. The relationship is “toxic”. But, as an eternal optimist, he has good memories. “I only remember the positive, I forget the negative”he reported to the personality investigator. “Maybe it’s a fault.”he admits.

Another weakness that emerged from his personality survey: his grandfather considers him a little naive regarding his relationship with social networks. An element which echoes the words of his lawyer, who judges that his client showed “naivety” by entering into contact with Abdoullakh Anzorov on the Snapchat network.

The light remains to be shed to understand how this young practicing Muslim fell into virtual radicalization. He who is so helpful, so sociable, so kind… How did he manage to find himself in the dock in a terrorism case? The court will examine his case in more depth at the beginning of December. With the hope of being able to explain how this ideal son found himself linked to an abominable crime.