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| Africa North |
| Capital punishment for a repentant in the attack against Bouteflika 2007 |
| 2010-12-25 |
| [Ennahar] A repentant terrorist was sentenced Thursday to the death penalty and his The kaboom of a jacket wallah on a passing convoy had missed the motorcade of the head of state in a visit to Batna, a mountainous area east of the country. The shredded bodies of a terrorist in western Algeria had been partially found. The condemned man, Walid Zeghina, 28, is a repentant who had benefited from the program of national reconciliation in 2006, Freedom and reintegration assistance in exchange for the deposit of arms and renounce of violence. Considered minor recruiter serving a radical ideology, he was convicted of "premeditated murder", "intentional injuries", "possession and use of explosives in public places" and "participation in terrorist organizations ". There was no death sentence in Algeria since 1993. The day before, a retrial in criminal court in Batna, the judge had scrutinized Zeghina for three hours, a man of contradictory statements. "You have benefited from the provisions of national reconciliation and we did not even file you," he told him, quoted by El Watan, as if to underline the confidence he had then been granted. Zeghina retorted that he had to run under the threat of the real sponsor of the attack, the chief of "Katibet el-Maut" (the phalanx of death) Ali Mehira Ali," said Abu Rawaha. The latter, a member of the former GSPC which became Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM, in charge of numbers of attacks and kidnappings of foreigners) is actively sought for 16 years. The second most serious sentence, 15 years in prison, was issued against Mohamed Lamine Dib, an illegal taxi driver who transported the bomber and the principal defendant. The day before, the public prosecutor had demanded the death penalty against both defendants. Another network member, Hisham Amara, was also sentenced to 15 years for preparation of the attack. Two defendants were sentenced to four years imprisonment, four others to three years for covering all information and not denouncing crime. Emad Khaldi, a minor in 2007, was given five years for the same charges that Zeghina but benefited from mitigating circumstances. One was acquitted and a minor at the time of the facts, already imprisoned for 18 months, appeared Wednesday as a witness. Sentences to death in absentia were also made against the runaways. The case involved a total of 63 people. Bouteflika was invited to the witness stand but he gave up. The president said he demanded one billion Dinars (10 million euros) in damages to the families of deceased coppers responsible for his safety. With regard to the civil complaint, the court ordered payment by the first two convicted of the sum of 20 million Dinars (200,000 euros) to the Treasury, without prejudice to the rights of the rest of the victims and their dependents, has reported on his side APS. |
| Posted by:Fred |