David Vallat (1971 – October 2024) was a French jihadist.[1]
David Vallat | |
|---|---|
 Vallat in 2017 | |
| Born | 1971 Villefontaine, France |
| Died | October 2024 (aged 53) Saint-Raphaël, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Other names | Jihadist |
Biography
editBorn in Villefontaine in 1971,[2] Vallat grew up in a multicultural neighborhood.[3][4][5] At the age of 15, he learned Arabic and converted to Islam.[6] During this time, he fell into delinquency, committing multiple burglaries and car thefts.[6] He then turned to a more advanced practice of Islam which steered him away from petty crimes.[6] In 1991, he completed his military service with the Chasseurs Alpins in the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade.[6]
In 1993, Vallat travelled to Bosnia and Herzegovina with nine other men to fight for the Bosnian mujahideen in the Bosnian War.[6] However, the group was turned back at the border with Croatia and forced to return to France.[6] The following year, he flew to Pakistan and subsequently crossed into Afghanistan, where he trained for several months in a jihadist camp.[7] He returned to France on 26 December 1994 and formed a jihadist cell in Chasse-sur-Rhône, which provided aid to the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria.[8] He aided the Algerian terrorist Ali Touchent, at the time stuck in the Netherlands, by forging him an identity document.[9] His group was dismantled in the wake of the 1995 France bombings following a police search of his home, which revealed a large collection of weapons and material used for making explosive devices.[8]
On 18 February 1998, Vallat was sentenced to six years in prison for criminal association with a terrorist enterprise, which was reduced to five years on appeal.[6] He spent 52 months in detention in La Santé Prison, the Centre pénitentiaire de Nanterre-Hauts-de-Seine, and the Maison d'arrêt de Villepinte.[10] He was freed on 18 December 1999.[11] He later claimed to be "deradicalized" in prison and took history courses at Bordeaux Montaigne University, though he later abandoned his studies and became a locksmith.[10]
During the 2010s, Vallat broke his silence and began to speak out about his time as a jihadist. He first wrote in the Libération newspaper anonymously following the Toulouse and Montauban shootings.[7] After the 2015 shooting at Charlie Hebdo, he testified under his own name for Le Monde.[10] Later that month, he appeared on the France 2 show Complément d'enquête and looked back at the Assault of Dammartin-en-Goële.[6]
David Vallat was found dead during the weekend of 19 October 2024, at the age of 53.[12]
Book
edit- Terreur de jeunesse (2016)
References
edit- ^ Chaillan, Coralie (21 October 2024). "David Vallat, ancien djihadiste, a été retrouvé mort à Saint-Raphaël dans le Var". France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (in French). Retrieved 25 October 2024.
- ^ "David Vallat, ancien djihadiste originaire de Villefontaine, retrouvé mort dans le Var". Le Dauphiné libéré (in French). 21 October 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
- ^ "Genas - Rédemption". Le Progrès (in French). 21 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
- ^ Menvielle, Dominique (5 September 2021). "L'ex-djihadiste David Vallat : " Il y aura encore des attaques "". Le Progrès (in French). Retrieved 25 October 2024.
- ^ "Vallat, David (1972-....)". Bibliothèque nationale de France (in French).
- ^ a b c d e f g h Vallat, David (2016). Terreur de jeunesse (in French). Paris: Calmann-Lévy. ISBN 978-2-7021-6015-2.
- ^ a b Bertrand, Olivier (1 May 2012). "Terreur de jeunesse". Libération (in French). Retrieved 25 October 2024.
- ^ a b Pontaut, Jean-Marie (20 November 1997). "Le procès du réseau français". L'Express (in French). Retrieved 25 October 2024.
- ^ Puchot, Pierre; Caillet, Roman (2017). Le combat vous a été prescrit (in French). Stock. p. 288. ISBN 978-2-234-08238-0.
- ^ a b c Schlitty, Richard (13 February 2015). "David Vallat, ex-djihadiste, raconte " l'engrenage " de la radicalisation". Le Monde (in French). Lyon. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
- ^ "Islamists in Prison: The Shadow Prophets". YouTube (in French). 16 April 2021.
- ^ Philippot, Noémie (21 October 2024). "Ancien djihadiste combattant l'islam radical, David Vallat a été retrouvé mort à son domicile". France Bleu (in French). Saint-Raphaël. Retrieved 25 October 2024.