Two Men Sentenced in Paris for Crypto-Based Terror Financing to Syria

Abderrahman Cheikh, a Moroccan national, is only 23 years old, and Sami Allam, a Franco-Algerian, is 26 years old. They did not know each other, but they were tried for the same crime and convicted of "criminal association and terrorism financing" at the end of a four-day trial. Detained for two years in this case, Sami Allam returned to prison on Friday evening after the verdict was read. As for Abderrahman Cheikh, who has been under judicial supervision since the case broke out, he has been placed under house arrest for the next two years.

The Prosecution had opted for much harsher sentences, but the Court decided otherwise, certainly taking into account the testimonies of the accused, who acknowledged having purchased coupons and opened cryptocurrency accounts, because they thought they were working for a good cause and not acting on behalf of a trio, member of the HTS (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, former Al-Qaeda branch in Syria) group.

However, at the time of the events, Allem and Cheikh were sharing jihadist propaganda videos on social media. Sami Allem bought 124 coupons for an amount of 15,000 euros and opened several accounts. As for Abderrahman Cheikh, he sent 200 euros to Syria in cryptocurrency and enabled the opening of four accounts.