French anti-terrorist law: The problem of potential jihadists in numbers

Nearly 800 youth leave for Syria, 50 cases appear before the prosecutor for terrorist activities, more than 160 calls already since April to a hotline set up by the Ministry of the Interior - the problem of potential jihadists in numbers.

800 youth

That's the figure given by the Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. This includes young people who have already left the theatre of operations in Syria (about 300), those in transit (just over 300) and those whom intelligence services categorize as having the certainty to go at some future date.

Among these youth, there are more than one hundred women and a 'significant' number of minors, according to a ministerial sourcewho did not wish to disclose the exact number. The proportion of women and children has been increasing for a number of weeks, a phenomenon that concerns anti-terrorist services.

At least thirty French or living in France have died in Syria. According to a source close to the case, nearly 2 000 Europeans arecurrently fighting in Syria.

58 judicial proceedings open

According to one judicial source, 58 legal proceedings were opened on 1st July in connection with departures for Syria, 26 preliminary investigations were ordered by the prosecutor for anti-terrorist activities and 32 reports were sent to judicial authorities for their opinion.

The enquiries are likely to implicate 230 people, assured one source. As part of these procedures, 99 people have been arrested with at least 70 indictments of which 50 placed in temporary detention.

166 plausible reports on the hotline

As part of an anti-jihadist initiative, a hotline was made available in April to families and relatives of radicalized youth to inform police oftheir suspicions or an actual departure or imminent departure. To date, 166 'plausible' cases have been reported, according to a sourcefrom the Ministry of Interior. 'This is a new tool but is extremely effective and useful for investigators,' said the source. Including alertsby email (49) and via a dedicated internet site (19) to complement the hotline, a total of 234 reports were recorded. Among them, 62 minors, 172 adults, 101 women and 133 men.

Nearly three departures every day

These reports revealed 45 departures for Syria 'and a significant number of departures prevented, although extremely difficult to quantify since by definition they have not left,' said the source at the Interior Ministry. Overall, including the departures signaled via the platform, intelligence estimates, according to the source familiar with the dossier, that there is an average of nearly three departures per day. To meet the needs of the new telephone platform, nearly 300 agents must be trained by the end of July, indicated Bernard Cazeneuve.

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