Fouad Boulemia
Encyclopedia
Fouad Boulemia, born in 1973, is a former guerrilla of the Armed Islamic Group
, found guilty of killing Abdelkader Hachani
and of participating in the Bentalha massacre
.
Boulemia was a member of the Armed Islamic Group
, an organisation fighting both the Algerian government and the Islamic Salvation Army and frequently targeting civilians, between the spring of 1995 and 1999.
Abdelkader Hachani
, a leading member of the Islamic Salvation Front
, was assassinated on November 22, 1999, soon after being released from prison. In December the government announced that it had arrested Fouad Boulemia for his murder.
Boulemia was sentenced to death on April 12, 2001 after a one-day trial. At the trial, he claimed to have been tortured by the secret services and threatened by General Toufik in person to force him to sign a confession that he now repudiated. This confession stated that, coincidentally finding himself in the dentist's waiting room with Hachani, he spontaneously decided to kill Hachani because Hachani was a leading figure of the Djaz'ara wing of the Islamic Salvation Front
, and pulled out his weapon, shot Hachani, and ran away. In this trial, he was questioned neither by his lawyer, Maître Khemis, nor by the prosecutor.http://hrw.org/wr2k2/mena1.html Two witnesses reported seeing Boulemia shoot Hachani, although one was reported to have previously claimed to have seen a man named Abdelaoui, with a quite different physical appearance, shoot Hachani.http://www.algerie-tpp.org/tpp/pdf/dossier_18_impunite.pdf
He was sentenced to death again on August 1, 2004 for taking part in the Bentalha massacre
, where more than 200 villagers were killed by armed guerrillas.http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/dza-summary-eng
He was released from Serkadji prison on March 10, 2006 (Liberté 11 March 2006), shortly after the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation
came into force.
Armed Islamic Group
The Armed Islamic Group is an Islamist organisation that wants to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state...
, found guilty of killing Abdelkader Hachani
Abdelkader Hachani
Abdelkader Hachani was a leading figure and founding member of the Islamic Salvation Front , an Algerian Islamist party. Following the arrests of Abassi Madani and Ali Belhadj on June 30, 1991, he became the party's effective leader He led the party to victory in the National Assembly...
and of participating in the Bentalha massacre
Bentalha massacre
At the village of Bentalha , about 15 km south of Algiers, on the night of September 22-23, 1997, more than 200 villagers were killed by armed guerrillas...
.
Boulemia was a member of the Armed Islamic Group
Armed Islamic Group
The Armed Islamic Group is an Islamist organisation that wants to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state...
, an organisation fighting both the Algerian government and the Islamic Salvation Army and frequently targeting civilians, between the spring of 1995 and 1999.
Abdelkader Hachani
Abdelkader Hachani
Abdelkader Hachani was a leading figure and founding member of the Islamic Salvation Front , an Algerian Islamist party. Following the arrests of Abassi Madani and Ali Belhadj on June 30, 1991, he became the party's effective leader He led the party to victory in the National Assembly...
, a leading member of the Islamic Salvation Front
Islamic Salvation Front
The Islamic Salvation Front is an outlawed Islamist political party in Algeria.-Goals:...
, was assassinated on November 22, 1999, soon after being released from prison. In December the government announced that it had arrested Fouad Boulemia for his murder.
Boulemia was sentenced to death on April 12, 2001 after a one-day trial. At the trial, he claimed to have been tortured by the secret services and threatened by General Toufik in person to force him to sign a confession that he now repudiated. This confession stated that, coincidentally finding himself in the dentist's waiting room with Hachani, he spontaneously decided to kill Hachani because Hachani was a leading figure of the Djaz'ara wing of the Islamic Salvation Front
Islamic Salvation Front
The Islamic Salvation Front is an outlawed Islamist political party in Algeria.-Goals:...
, and pulled out his weapon, shot Hachani, and ran away. In this trial, he was questioned neither by his lawyer, Maître Khemis, nor by the prosecutor.http://hrw.org/wr2k2/mena1.html Two witnesses reported seeing Boulemia shoot Hachani, although one was reported to have previously claimed to have seen a man named Abdelaoui, with a quite different physical appearance, shoot Hachani.http://www.algerie-tpp.org/tpp/pdf/dossier_18_impunite.pdf
He was sentenced to death again on August 1, 2004 for taking part in the Bentalha massacre
Bentalha massacre
At the village of Bentalha , about 15 km south of Algiers, on the night of September 22-23, 1997, more than 200 villagers were killed by armed guerrillas...
, where more than 200 villagers were killed by armed guerrillas.http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/dza-summary-eng
He was released from Serkadji prison on March 10, 2006 (Liberté 11 March 2006), shortly after the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation
Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation
The Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation was a charter proposed by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in an attempt to bring closure to the Algerian Civil War by offering an amnesty for most violence committed in it...
came into force.