Brother of 2012 Toulouse Killer Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison<br />Asked about comments made after the attacks in which he had expressed pride in his brother’s actions, Mr. Merah told the court<br />that he now condemned them and felt "a mix of sadness, shame and regret." Mr. Merah was tried over five weeks in a special court for terrorism crimes before a panel of judges rather than a jury.<br />Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom in central Paris after the verdict, Éric Dupond-Moretti, Mr. Merah’s lawyer, said<br />that the judges had "resisted pressure from public opinion" and called his client a "fake culprit who was fabricated to satisfy their thirst for justice." Two of Mr. Merah’s siblings, both at odds with the rest of the Merah family, described a toxic family environment where hatred of Jews, Americans and France was commonplace.<br />Mr. Merah’s mother, upon learning about the shootings, is reported to have said: "My son brought France to its knees." Another defendant in the<br />case, Fettah Malki, was also found guilty of taking part in a criminal terrorist conspiracy on Thursday and sentenced to a 14-year prison term.<br />"It’s absolute evil." But the court proceedings were also tense, peppered by clashes between the plaintiffs and the defense team, which repeatedly argued<br />that there was no evidence that Mr. Merah knew about his brother’s plans and that the court should not convict him for his brother’s crimes.<br />2, 2017<br />PARIS — In a highly awaited verdict, the brother of the man who killed seven people in southwestern France in 2012 was<br />found guilty on Thursday of taking part in a criminal terrorist conspiracy and sentenced to 20 years in prison.<br />Latifa Ibn Ziaten, the mother of one of the paratroopers killed by Mr. Merah, told reporters<br />that she felt the court had not gone "all the way." "I think that we are being too naïve and that we have to open our eyes," she said, crying.
