Lawyers blame political parties for not filing suits against vote riggers

Several legislators have revealed to Echourouk that the Algerian political parties condemn frauds during each electoral process but never filed suits accompanied by proofs before the judicial authorities.

• They have blamed the parties’ leaders for denouncing the alleged frauds during press conferences, while it was supposed to give concrete evidence about these frauds and reveal the identities of the wrongdoers.
• The political activist and lawyer Mokrane Ait larbi has indicated to Echourouk that despite the fact the electoral law includes several articles that sanction all the frauds registered during the electoral process from the onset till the end, the parties do not file suits against the people involved in these malpractices.
• Replying to a question concerning the concrete actions to take over a video posted on the internet showing a large fraud in one of the polling stations in the province of Tebessa, eastern Algeria, M Ait Larbi has asserted that the public prosecutor cannot file suit based on videos posted on the internet, arguing that the videos could be fabricated ones.
• The lawyer went on saying that, should the facts were real, it’s up to the parties’ representatives to lodge a complaint backed with evidence.
• As to the declarations of the interior minister pledging to sanctions all those involved in the frauds, Ait Larbi answered with a question saying “ Do you really believe that the interior ministry will sue all those involved in doctoring the votes results.. This is impossible.. we have never seen before a judge pronouncing a sentence in this sense”.