Hassan Hattab Placed Under Judicial Management, General Prosecutor

The captured Emir of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), Hassan Hattab, has been placed under judicial management, General Prosecutor at the Court of Algiers, said Sunday.

At the sidelines of the opening of the judicial year 2011-2012, Mr Belkacem Zeghmati told a press conference that Hassan Hattab has been placed under judicial management after that his staying in a judicial reserve was expired. 

Previously, Minister of Justice, Tayeb Belaiz told reporters in March that Hassan Hattab was placed in a reserve complying with legal management, and the magistrate could question the defendant at any time.

Mr Belaiz further added that information provided by Hattab enabled security services to anticipate many terror attacks.

On another side, the general prosecutor of the Court of Algiers revealed that Amari Saifi, alias Abderezak al-Para, accused of the abduction of 32 German tourists in 2003, is still under custody in Serkadji penitentiary, in upper Algiers, and investigation with him is underway, after the lift of the state of emergency in February.

As for the rejection to summon Amar Saifi to provide his testimony on the case of the abduction of German tourists, which has been postponed twice, Mr Zeghmati said that the criminal court is in charge of the case and it is exclusively up to it to decide whether it is useful to summon him or not.