NextFin news, Three French women, all related to the Clain family, appeared in a special court in Paris on Monday to face charges of membership in the Islamic State group (ISIS). The trial, which is expected to last 10 days, involves Jennyfer Clain, 34, her mother-in-law Christine Allain, and sister-in-law Mayalen Duhart. They are accused of "participation in a terrorist association," which carries a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
The accused were arrested in 2019 at the Turkey-Syria border along with nine children. Jennyfer Clain is notably the niece of Jean-Michel and Fabien Clain, who were key ISIS propagandists and claimed responsibility for the deadly November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris. The Clain family, originally practicing Catholics from La Réunion, converted to radical Islam under the influence of Mohamed Mongi Amri, the third husband of Jennyfer's mother.
Between 2014 and 2015, about 20 members of the Clain family, spanning four generations, relocated to the ISIS-controlled caliphate area around Raqqa in Syria and Iraq. The family lived under strict Islamic law, with women wearing full veils and gender segregation enforced within their home. The Clain brothers had been involved in Islamist activities since 2003, linked to a radical community in Artigat, France.
Jennyfer Clain married a French jihadist, Kevin Gonot, at age 15 and moved to Syria in 2014 with their four children. She spent two and a half years within ISIS territory before being arrested by Kurdish forces in 2017 and later by Syrian police in 2019. She was transferred to Turkey and then deported to France for judicial proceedings.
During interrogations in 2021, Jennyfer Clain claimed she only engaged in "normal activities" and denied playing any active role in ISIS, stating her priority was educating her children. However, she admitted to appreciating ISIS propaganda, learning to use a machine gun, and showing her children videos of ISIS executions.
The trial is being closely followed by French judicial authorities and observers due to the Clain family's notorious association with jihadism. The court proceedings are taking place in Paris before a special jury court dedicated to terrorism cases.
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