French Muslim faces years of injustice under anti-terror measures
Jalil Djabbeur has faced years of arbitrary detention and house arrest without conviction
PARIS (MNTV) – 20-year-old French Muslim Jalil Djabbeur has endured imprisonment, house arrest, and separation from his wife—all without a conviction.
Djabbeur’s harrowing case was recently highlighted by human rights group Cage International.
Jalil, of Algerian and Italian descent, became entangled in France’s anti-terror measures following a 2021 homework assignment on homophobia, which authorities deemed “glorification of terrorism.”
Though never convicted, he spent seven months in a detention center, suffering severe psychological and physical trauma, including harassment for practicing his faith.
In December 2023, shortly after marrying a French citizen of Italian descent, Jalil was arrested again without explanation. This led to house arrest and a ban on contacting his wife.
A January 2024 police raid resulted in violence against Jalil and his elderly mother. Despite being released after three days for lack of evidence, his house arrest was extended multiple times.
Ahead of the 2024 Olympics, further restrictions compounded his isolation, barring him from employment, education, and personal freedoms.
His wife, who attempted phone contact with him, was sentenced to five months in prison, and by November 2024, she was also placed under house arrest.
A life overshadowed by arbitrary restrictions
Cage International describes Jalil’s ordeal as emblematic of how France’s counter-terrorism framework disproportionately targets Muslims.
His detention at a juvenile center exposed him to systemic harassment, with no support for the psychological toll he endured.
Jalil’s case reveals how administrative surveillance, including house arrest, operates as pseudo-imprisonment, stripping individuals of basic rights while bypassing judicial oversight.
The prohibition on Jalil seeing his wife has been labeled unlawful by advocates. Despite appeals, courts have upheld measures rooted in Islamophobia, sidelining fundamental rights to family life and due process.
Jalil’s mother decried the ordeal, saying, “When injustice is unleashed on an innocent man, a whole mother bleeds.”
The measures imposed on Jalil and his family highlight how anti-terror policies circumvent legal safeguards, turning lives into battlegrounds for state suspicion.
Jalil and his wife, separated since December 2023, remain entangled in a system that Cage International calls “a war on civil liberties.”
Their plight underscores the urgent need for judicial reform and accountability to prevent further erosion of fundamental freedoms under the guise of security.
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