French examining magistrate in charge of Tibhirine Monks’ affair, Marc Trévidic, in Algeria on Monday

Well-informed sources told Echorouk that the French examining magistrate, Marc Trévidic, entrusted with investigating on the French judicial side into the exact circumstances surrounding the murder in 1996 of seven Trappist Monks in the Tibhirine area in central Médéa province is expected to arrive in Algeria on Monday, October 13th 2014.

Marc Trévidic will be accompanied during his visit by 13 auxiliary officials from the French justice, including 4 investigators and 9 personalities, representing the sectors of security, police and judiciary.

They will move to the Atlas monastery in the Tibhirine region where the heinous assassination of the seven Monks occurred way back in 1996. They will also interview direct or indirect witnesses in the case. 

This will be the French magistrate’s second visit to Algeria after a preliminary one paid the country in December 2011 aimed at paving the way for the launching of this post-mortem autopsy of the seven late Monks who were beheaded and their bodies have not as yet been found.

A month before the monks died, the then terrorist armed Group (GIA) claimed to have kidnappedthe seven Monks, asking for a ransom from the French government and threatening to decapitate the hostages. Though the GIA clearly claimed responsibility for the murders 17 years later, Trévidic has questioned the original theory that terrorists were involved.

A source close to the case said that Trévidic had ostensibly obtained authorization to perform autopsies on the heads of the victims, whose bodies were never found. Marc Trévidic will therefore return to Algeria with his own medical legal team to work alongside Algerian forensic experts.

No date has yet been fixed for the autopsies. Once the autopsies take place, investigators may be able to better establish a timeline for the murders, using science to answer key questions such as whether the monks were killed by decapitation or were decapitated post-mortem.