On December 8, 2020 several raids took place across the country and nine people were arrested[1]. One person among them, Libre Flot, was under surveillance by French intelligence services since 2018, when he came back to France after spending a few months in Rojava[2]. The other eight people didn't all know each other but all knew Libre Flot. After the arrests, seven people (including Libre Flot) were accused of being part of a terrorist association that was planning attacks against French institutions.
To identify the phone numbers used by some of the defendants, investigators analyzed correlations between different sets of data, obtained through[3]:
- Real-time geolocation of phones, through the collaboration of mobile network operators.
- IMSI-catchers.
- Covert location surveillance devices.
- Physical surveillance operations.
Some of the defendants spent time in pre-trial detention, with durations ranging from 4 to 16 months. Libre Flot was detained in isolation for 16 months.
In a 2023 trial[4]:
- Seven defendants were sentenced to prison, with sentences ranging from 2 to 5 years (parts of the sentences were suspended prison sentences).
- Among them, six were sentenced to registration in the Fichier des Auteurs d’Infractions Terroristes (FIJAIT, Terrorist offenders index): for 10 years, they will have to check in every three months at a police station and to notify authorities two weeks before traveling abroad, under penalty of 2 years in prison.
Techniques used
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Biased interpretation of evidence | The case was characterized by a lack of evidence that the defendants were planning a specific attack, and relied instead on interpretation of circumstantial evidence. Examples of this interpretation include[5]:
| |
| Covert surveillance devices | ||
| Audio | A hidden microphone was installed in the truck where Libre Flot lived[3]. When the legal authorization for installing and using the microphone expired after two months, the microphone was remotely deactivated but not removed from the truck. It was removed several months later during the raids. Another hidden microphone was installed in a small cabin used by some of the defendants. | |
| Location | A covert location tracker was installed on a vehicle used by Libre Flot[3]. | |
| Video | A camera was installed outside a small cabin used by some of the defendants, filming the cabin[3]. It was seemingly installed about 10 meters from the cabin, on a tree trunk. | |
| Evidence fabrication | Investigators mistranscribed or distorted conversations obtained through phone interception or hidden microphones to make them look suspicious[5]. For example, the term “lunettes balistiques” (ballistic goggles) used in a conversation was transcribed as “gilets balistiques” (ballistic vests) by intelligence services, and became “gilets explosifs” (explosive vests) in a report by the prosecutors in charge of the case. | |
| Forensics | ||
| Trace evidence | During the raids, several objects (a stove, pans, gloves, spatulas) were analyzed for traces of products that could be used to create explosives[5]. | |
| House raid | During the raids, investigators found firearms and products that could be used to create explosives[5]. | |
| Interrogation techniques | When interrogating defendants during custody, investigators[5]:
| |
| Physical surveillance | ||
| Covert | For several weeks, investigators staked out the homes of some of the defendants and tailed them when they moved[3]. In particular:
| |
| Service provider collaboration | ||
| Mobile network operators | Investigators used the collaboration of mobile network operators to geolocate the phones of the defendants and of people close to them in real time and to record unencrypted phone conversations[3]. In particular:
| |
| Targeted digital surveillance | ||
| IMSI-catcher | Investigators used an IMSI-catcher during physical surveillance operations to identify the phone numbers used by some of the defendants[3]. | |