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PARIS - French Muslim convert Willie Brigitte moved to Australia to start a new life and flee the influence of Islamic extremists, not to plot a terrorist attack, his lawyers say.
But French prosecutors allege he trained as a terrorist and was planning attacks on Sydney's Lucas Heights
nuclear reactor, the Pine Gap US spy base in central Australia and other strategic targets.
Brigitte, who faces up to 10 years' imprisonment on charges of "criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise", went on trial in Paris last night.
He declared he was not a terrorist but then said he would refuse to answer questions for the remainder of his three-day trial, denouncing the French inquiry as biased.
"I have lost all faith in French justice, I have decided I will not declare anything to you any more, and will let my lawyers speak for me," Brigitte, wearing dreadlocks, a goatee beard and thin-rimmed glasses said, before clamming up.
When asked if he was refusing to talk because he feared retribution from Islamist groups, Brigitte did not reply.
Brigitte, from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, was arrested in Australia in October 2003 following a tip-off from French intelligence services, and deported to France, where he has been held in custody ever since.
French prosecutors accuse Brigitte of, among other things, setting up a terror cell in Australia on the orders of the Pakistani Islamic extremist group Lashkar-e-Toiba.
The case alleges he attended Islamic schools linked to al Qaeda in Yemen and that he later underwent weapons training in Pakistan to prepare him for a terror attack.
"You are accused of taking part in a group on the territories of France, Yemen, Pakistan and Australia that was formed in order to prepare one or several terrorist acts," said chief judge Jacqueline Rebeyrotte, reading out the charge sheet.
Living in the southwest suburbs of Sydney, Brigitte took a job in a kebab shop, married an Australian Muslim convert and former army signaller, Melanie Brown -- his third wife -- and allegedly drew up plans for an attack.
One of his alleged contacts in Australia was Faheem Khalid Lodhi, a Pakistani-born architect sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2006 for planning to blow up Sydney's power grid.
But the judge said Brigitte had told investigators he went to Australia to escape the influence of Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Sajid Mir -- who is being tried as a co-accused in absentia -- and of Australian-based Lodhi.
"At one stage he understood that he was being manipulated, but by getting married in Australia he was hoping to escape the control of Sajid and Abu-Hamza (Lodhi's alias)," the judge said, detailing what Brigitte told investigators.
Outside court, Brigitte's lawyer, Jean-Claude Durimel, said the prosecution case was not backed up with facts.
Durimel said Brigitte only went to Australia to "start a new life and get married to an Australian woman".
Asked if Brigitte was moved to Sydney as part of a mission, Durimel said: "Yes, if the mission was to marry an ex-Jewish Australian woman who was a convert to Islam and an ex-Australian soldier, but that is not the mission of a mujahideen".
Durimel said Brigitte had attended Lashkar-e-Toiba camps only for religious instruction, despite the fact weapons and explosives training were conducted there.
"He went there for the religious part," Durimel said.
"Is it a crime to learn your religion, is it a crime to use your knowledge in an organisation?
"You can go to Pakistan, but that does not mean you are going to be a terrorist."
When the trial resumes late tonight (AEDT) it is expected to turn its attention to Brigitte's activities in Australia in 2003 -- principally his relationship with Lodhi.
The court is also expected to hear the testimony of Brown, who has spoken to French investigators.
- AAP
