Former ISIS Collaborator Speaks to Students About Redemption After Prison

Oialae Chergui, 34, a jihadist prisoner, took advantage of a four-hour prison release permit to participate in this meeting. He had been arrested for his membership in the terrorist group Al Andalus, dismantled by the Spanish police in 2016. After more than six years in prison, he confides in a letter that his arrest saved him from "doing crazy things" and wants to be an example of repentance. The letter was read in his presence by a criminology student from the Francisco de Vitoria University in front of an audience of students aged 18 to 22.

The testimony of this convicted terrorist is part of a conference on restorative justice and the deradicalization of terrorists. "I spent five years in solitary confinement in the Villabona prison. Today, I have obtained a four-hour permit to come here. I would like to dare to read this letter that I have written for you, young university students, but it is impossible for me," said Oialae Chergui.

In its 2017 decision, the Supreme Court indicated that Chergui was part of a "network based in Madrid, which was active in the recruitment, radicalization, indoctrination and sending of jihadist volunteers to carry out terrorist acts".

"I arrived legally in Spain in 2002 with my parents. My parents returned to Morocco and I stayed here with family in order to study. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t renew my residence permit, which forced me to abandon my studies and start going to court, looking for precarious jobs and frequenting people with a negative influence. Despite this roller coaster life, I got married in 2010 and I have three children," he tells the students, specifying that his motivation to join the Islamic State was "political and not religious. It was born out of a sense of injustice," referring to the Arab Spring.

Oialae Chergui says he "deeply regrets" and is "ashamed to have collaborated with a terrorist organization". He began to be indoctrinated with "information from Al Jazeera, networks and his friends". "My lack of academic preparation and my intolerance did not allow me to distinguish what I saw, read or heard. [...] I started doing things that did not correspond to my morals, but that everyone was doing, or at least that’s what I thought," he details. And to emphasize: "My goal was to go to Syria to fight against the dictators put in place by the West. Detention saved me from armed struggle and who knows what else."

The young man has gone through a long process of introspection, self-critical reflection, and participated in restorative justice workshops before being able to free himself. The reading and humanism of certain people he met in prison have also greatly contributed to his change of mentality and perception of life. "Today, I condemn terrorism... I am convinced that terrorism has no religion or border. I apologize if I have caused moral harm to anyone and I promise not to do it again. I want this nightmare that I started many years ago to end," he concluded.