ISIS-Linked Moroccan Woman Attempts Prison Break in France

The events took place on November 14th last. Douha Mounib, 31, tried to escape from the Fresnes prison in Val-de-Marne. She had dug a hole in the wall of her cell, before abseiling down the two floors separating her from the walkway, using knotted sheets, reports Paris Match. The movement detector alerts the prison guards who manage to slow her down. "The search of her cell revealed her determination and her aborted attempts," says Yoan Karar, deputy general secretary of FO-Justice. "The inmate had drilled through her ceiling [above the toilet], hoping to pass through the roofs. She also sawed one of her bars with a knife," he continues.

This escape attempt complicates the detainee’s case. Held in pre-trial detention for four long years, she is now indicted for "attempted escape with breaking and entering" and "criminal terrorist conspiracy". While her lawyer, Joseph Hazan, acknowledges an "unreasonable act", he nevertheless denies its terrorist nature. Her father also defends her. "Douha is not radicalized, he assures. Even less violent or hateful. She admits to having made mistakes. She went to Syria to live an authentic Islam, she knows she made the wrong choice..." The young woman had been arrested at the Turkish border in 2015 as she was trying to enter Syria, Douha Mounib. Extradited to France in December 2017, she will be incarcerated at the Fresnes prison.

The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has taken over the case. An investigation has been opened. In charge, the Paris judicial police and the Directorate General of Internal Security. "We don’t yet know why Douha Mounib wanted to escape, says an investigator. She gave her version. Our investigations are now focusing on one specific point: who was going to come and pick her up?"