The trial of suspected killers of Lounes Matoub scheduled for July
Font size:
ennahar
ALGIERS - The trial of two accused of the murder in 1998, in full black decade in Algeria, the Kabylian singer Lounes Matoub, will be held in July, said the lawyer of an accused to the French-language newspaper El-Watan published Tuesday.
- Two accused, Malik Madjnoun and Abdelhakim Chenoui, are in prison for 12 years but the family of the singer and their lawyers continue to express doubts about the proper conduct of the investigation.
- The two men are accused of having participated in the attack by a group of ten people, eight of which are on the run or were killed by security forces.
- Their trial opened for the first time on July 9, 2008 was suspended at the request of the victim's family to allow further investigation.
- Justice said it had completed its new survey on June 16
- According to the defence of Mr. Madjoun,lawyer Boubaker Ait Habib, the director of the prison told his client that the trial would take place in July.
- Me Ait Habib also announced that the sister of the singer, Malika Matoub, had confirmed that the prosecutor's office had assured the programming of the trial "before the end of the ongoing criminal session", which ends in late July.
- The lawyer is convinced of the innocence of his client and told El Watan that several witnesses will attest his presence at a restaurant at the time of the crime.
- The lawyer of Nadia Matoub, the widow of the singer, Mr. Salah Hannoun told the newspaper that "to judge two people in dubious circumstances was not a guarantee of credibility for the trial."
- Malika Matoub called for the reconstruction of the crime. "It can not be any Matoub trial without knowing how he died, she said to El-Watan, adding:" I defy anyone to tell me how he died. Until then, there are only speculations."
- The widow of the singer says the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) is responsible for the murder. The mother and sister of the victim believe in all possibilities, including a political murder committed by the government.
- Lounes Matoub, claimant singer of Berber culture and identity, was murdered at the age of 42, June 25, 1998, by an armed Islamist group at a place called Bouinan Tala, 5 km from the city of Tizi-Ouzou, east of Algiers.
- The assassination was claimed eleven months later, in May 1999 by a leader of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) Hassan Hattab, who surrendered in October 2007 to the authorities and was placed in "safe place."
- Ennaharonline/ M. O.
article views:1655
Add to:
Email to a friend
Print version
Plain textRate this article
Comments (0 posted):
Post your comment