Mother of Bataclan attacker faces trial in Paris for 'financing terrorism'

Ninety people were killed and hundreds wounded at the Bataclan theatre in November 2015.
Ninety people were killed and hundreds wounded at the Bataclan theatre in November 2015. Copyright THOMAS COEX / AFP
Copyright THOMAS COEX / AFP
By AFP
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Fatima Hajji is accused of sending money to her son and his partner while they were in Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2015.

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The mother of one of the 2015 Bataclan concert hall attackers is facing trial in Paris, accused of "financing terrorism".

Fatima Hajji, 53, is charged with sending €13,000 to her son and his partner while they were in Iraq and Syria, between 2014 and 2015.

She was due to appear before the Paris Criminal Court on Thursday but the case has now been adjourned to March 2022 to give her more time to prepare her defence.

Hajji's son -- Foued Mohamed Aggad -- was one of three suicide bombers who stormed the Paris theatre during the November 2015 terror attacks.

His partner Hajira Belkhir -- who is presumed dead -- is also being prosecuted for "terrorist criminal association".

Prosecutors say that Aggad left France for left for Syria in December 2013 with other members of the so-called Strasbourg network.

But he maintained regular contact with his mother and other family members in northeastern France, officials say.

Six of his relatives, including his mother and aunt, were arrested in June as part of a preliminary investigation by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office for "financing terrorism".

"In his exchanges with his mother, he indicated that, if he were to return to France, it would only be to commit an attack," investigators said.

Prosecutors added that Aggad cut ties with his mother in August 2015 before he illegally returned to France ahead of the attacks.

A landmark trial into the 2015 Paris terror attacks is separately underway in the French capital until May 2022 with 145 days of scheduled hearings.

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