Attaque terroriste à Arras : Manuel Valls, ministre de l’Intérieur en 2014, s’explique sur la non-expulsion de la famille Mogouchkov

The Mogouchkov family was supposed to live in Russia. They were supposed to leave French territory in 2014. However, they stayed in France. One of the children, Mohammed, is the former radicalized student who stabbed Professor Dominique Bernard in Arras on Friday morning.

Going back in time. In 2008, the family arrives in France and settles in a social hotel near Rennes. Mohammed is 5 years old. The parents go through multiple procedures to obtain political refugee status. They are eventually denied asylum by the prefecture of Ille-et-Vilaine and are scheduled for deportation in February 2014. The Mrap, laCimade, RESF, and the Communist Party mobilize to prevent this expulsion. In a statement from February 19, 2014, which has since been removed from the internet, the local Communist Party expresses outrage at a « forced wake-up by the border police at 6 am » and comments: « What a waste of resources to sabotage a family’s life. » In the context of the Leonarda case – the controversial expulsion of a young Kosovar girl – the authorities back down. The Mogouchkov family remains in France.

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This family met the criteria outlined in the circular regarding undocumented individuals.

At that time, the Minister of Interior was named Manuel Valls. He explained on France Info this Sunday morning: « This Chechen family had been denied asylum, put on a plane to Paris. They refused, probably on the advice of associations and lawyers, to board the plane that was supposed to take them to Moscow – at that time, Chechens were being deported to Moscow – and were placed in a detention center. At that moment, my office – I personally did not have to handle this case – considered, not under pressure from associations, I don’t believe so, that the family, who had been there for more than five years, with children enrolled in school from first grade to sixth grade, including the terrorist from Arras who was in sixth grade, met the criteria of the Valls circular regarding undocumented immigrants and deportations of children. Therefore, they were not deported. » The Valls circular had been adopted two years earlier in 2012.

Aux accusations selon lesquelles le drame d’Arras aurait été évité si la famille avait été expulsée en 2014, Manuel Valls répond : « Faire croire aux Français que c’est parce que cette famille n’a pas été expulsée en 2014… alors qu’elle était en France depuis 2008 donc on pourrait aussi s’interroger pourquoi elle n’a pas été expulsée alors qu’elle n’avait pas de titre de séjour, alors il y avait une procédure d’asile qui était en cours. Ce sont des débats que je peux comprendre, ce sont des polémiques inutiles mais ce qu’il faut comprendre surtout, c’est le processus de radicalisation ».

De la Bretagne à Arras

The expulsion being abandoned, the Mogouchkov family leaves Brittany for Arras in Pas-de-Calais. In 2018, the father, Iakub Mogouchkov, is deported to Russia due to administrative issues and domestic violence. In 2019, the family makes headlines again. Mohammed Movsar’s older brother is arrested by the DGSI « in connection with a terrorist plot » near the Elysée Palace. He is tried and imprisoned at the Santé prison in Paris.

Mohammed, on his side, continues his education at the Gambetta College-High School in Arras and then spends two years in a BTS program. In March 2021, he applies for asylum. The Ofpra (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) rejects it. One year later, in August 2022, there is a new refusal from the CNDA (National Court of Asylum Law). However, as he has reached adulthood, he can still stay in France. Indeed, since he arrived in France before turning 13, he benefits from an « absolute protection » granted to children in his situation.

« The law includes provisions to prevent deportation. Integration criteria are taken into account, and it is believed that a person who arrived early in the country should be protected, » explains lawyer Patrick Berdugo, specializing in immigration law, to Le Parisien. There is an exception that allows for the expulsion of a child under the age of 13 « in cases where their behavior poses a threat to the fundamental interests of the state or is linked to terrorist activities. » However, Mohammed Mogouchkov did not meet these criteria.

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Le père localisé en Géorgie

Since the attack in Arras, the French authorities did not know the whereabouts of Father Iakub Mogouchkov. BFMTV reported this Sunday morning that he has been located in Georgia. Investigators are aware that Mohammed Mogouchkov was in contact with his father, his older brother in prison, and another inmate a few days before the incident. What did they say to each other? Was the act premeditated? Mohammed Mogouchkov is not very talkative with the investigators.