APPREHENDED
- Full name: Anne Diane Clain
- Pseudonym: N/a
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: France, fmr Bulgaria
- Affiliation: Artigat and Toulouse Network [FAT]
Anne Clain (°1975) is an Islamist woman of Reunionese descent who grew up with her infamous brother Fabien in the northern French town of Alençon. Clain gave birth to her first daughter when she was fifteen years old.1 Under the impulse of her brother, she converted to Islam in 1999.2 Clain later joined her sibling as he moved to Toulouse where she got married to Mohammed Amri in June 2001.3 The couple went to live in the small village of Ambax.4 During the early 2000s, Clain was given religious instruction at the Islamist retreat of Olivier Corel in Artigat.5 She and her husband became part of the so-called Artigat and Toulouse Network [FAT; Filière d’Artigat et Toulouse] and had their eldest daughter marry its member Kévin Gonot.6 They furthermore hosted meetings of people associated with the FAT at their rural home.7 These gatherings raised suspicions by French security services who put these conclaves under surveillance.8
In the mid-2010s, Clain and her husband became supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham]. They followed Clain’s brother and departed for Syria with some of their children in August 2015.9 Turkish security personnel prevented them from crossing into the country.10 After a stay in Bulgaria, Clain and her family made a second attempt to join the DaIISh in the summer of 2016.11 They were apprehended by Turkish authorities on Jul. 01, 2016.12 In September 2016, Clain and her husband were expelled to France where they were arrested upon arrival.13 A French court sentenced her to nine years in prison for terrorist association in November 2019.14 The verdict was later confirmed on appeal.15
References