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Paris Court Imposes Uncompressible Life Term on Chiolo for 2019 Prison Attack

The verdict highlights how jihadist radicalization inside prison can trigger France’s rare life term without parole

Michaël Chiolo devant la cour d’assises spéciale de Paris, le 2 juin 2025.
Des policiers près de la prison de Condé-sur-Sarthe, le 5 mars 2019. L’auteur de l’attaque au couteau a été condamné à la réclusion à perpétuité incompressible, lundi 7 juillet 2025.
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Overview

  • Paris’s special assize court sentenced Michaël Chiolo to life imprisonment without possibility of release, making him the third person in France to receive an uncompressible life term in a terrorism case.
  • Co-defendants received mixed outcomes: Abdelaziz Fahd was given a life sentence with a 30-year safety period, Nabil Ganned drew 20 years with a two-thirds safety period, Yassine Merai was sentenced in absentia to 12 years, and Jérémy Bailly was acquitted.
  • Throughout five weeks of testimony, Chiolo openly endorsed Islamic State’s actions, repeatedly declaring his full support for jihadist ideology during the trial.
  • The professional magistrates on the special court followed the national antiterror prosecutor’s requisitions and have allotted ten days for all convicted parties to file appeals.
  • The case underscores persistent challenges in detecting and countering jihadist networks and radicalization within high-security penitentiary environments.