Zacarias Moussaoui, the only Frenchman convicted in the United States in connection with the September 11, 2001 attacks, is requesting to be transferred to France to serve the remainder of his sentence. His lawyer, Romain Ruiz, has submitted a request to the Minister of Justice asking French authorities to formally request his transfer.
Sentenced to life imprisonment in 2006, Zacarias Moussaoui has been incarcerated since 2001 in a maximum-security prison in Colorado . His lawyer believes that several pieces of evidence declassified since his trial call into question certain aspects of the initial accusation and denounces the "ultra-repressive" conditions of his detention.
The request is also motivated by the prisoner's family situation. His mother, Aicha El Wafi, lives in France , and her health no longer allows her to travel to the United States . "I fear dying without seeing him," she told RMC. The lawyer clarifies that his client is not requesting his release, but only to serve his sentence on French soil.
Such a transfer remains highly uncertain, however. It would require the simultaneous agreement of both American and French authorities. A judicial source quoted by RMC considers this scenario "very unlikely" at this stage.
