APPREHENDED
- Full name: Hamza Mozli
- Pseudonym: N/a
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: France
- Affiliation: Lunel Network [FdL]
Hamza Mozli (°ca 1989) is a Tunisian-born Islamist and resident of the French town of Lunel after his family had moved to France when he was seven. Although Mozli was often without a job, he does not appear to have ever been drawn to crime.1
In the early 2010s, Mozli became the key figure behind the radicalization of a diverse group of Muslims in Lunel.2 He gathered a group of associates around him that would eventually form the infamous Lunel Network [FdL; Filière de Lunel]. Mozli encouraged his followers to wage jihad in Syria.3 He developed contacts with Mourad Farès and his associate Johan Juncaj and was in touch with a commander in the Syrian-based Army of Mohammed [JM; Jaish Mohammed].4 Mozli later used these contacts to help members of the FdL travel to Syria.5 He reportedly also helped finance the journey of some of these associates.6 Between November 2013 and December 2014, at least twenty FdL elements would link up with the jihadis in Syria.7
Mozli served as the interlocutor between the FdL and its recruits in the Middle East.8 In early April 2014, he advised FdL members in the JM to switch sides after learning from an FdL element who had already joined the DaIISh that the latter organization was about to attack the JM.9 Mozli became a supporter of the DaIISh and began sharing its statements and propaganda videos on social media.10
The FdL began to attract the attention of the press and the scrutiny of the authorities after reports of significant numbers of Lunelois fighters active in Syria began to emerge. This only intensified when the jihadi contingent from Lunel began taking casualties in late 2014. Among the dead were two of Mozli’s brothers.11
On Jan. 27, 2015, police arrested Mozli and four associates during a series of raids in Lunel.12 Despite his central role in the FdL, a court in Paris only sentenced him to seven years in prison on Apr. 13, 2018.13
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