Far-Right Plot Unravels: French Court to Deliver Verdict in Anti-Muslim Terrorism Case

During the trial three months ago, the prosecution had requested five years of actual imprisonment against Daniel R., considered the explosives expert of the group. Thirteen other defendants, including Guy S., the founder, and Bernard S., the head of the Île-de-France section, face prison sentences with partial probation. The prosecution had also requested the acquittal of two others, recalls Le Parisien. The 16 accused, including three women, aged 39 to 76, have been members of the far-right group AFO since 2017-2018, an organization that, according to the investigating judges, was planning "concrete violent actions in symbolic places" of Islam.

The trial took place in a context marked by the resurgence of anti-Muslim acts in France. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, these acts increased by 75% between January-May 2025 compared to the same period in 2024 (145 against 83). The increase is notable in terms of physical assaults (+ 209%, from 32 to 99). "During the proceedings and also during the hearings, some were able to say that they had the impression of being part of the Resistance, evoking a resistant grandfather facing the Nazis. But heroism is not genetic! No, they are not Jean Moulin," said a representative of the prosecution.

"AFO has responded from the outset to the fear of Islam and the need for action," added the prosecutor, who is convinced that this group is "united by hatred and rejection of Islam." During their meetings and in emails and notes, the group members discussed projects such as "the halal operation," which consisted of having AFO women members wear niqabs to poison food in halal supermarket aisles with cyanide or rat poison, the prosecution details. The far-right group also planned to kill "200 radicalized imams" and blow up the door of a mosque in Clichy-la-Garenne (Hauts-de-Seine).

During their trial, the defendants had acknowledged being mainly interested in the survivalist training promised by AFO in order to train and practice in the event of a civil war. However, they had denied any intention to take action, referring to "empty words," "fantasies." In the same vein, the defense lawyers had rejected the qualification of a terrorist criminal association, punishable by ten years’ imprisonment, arguing that these were projects at an "embryonic stage."