Macron Admits French Army Tortured, Killed Martyr Ali Boumendjel

The French presidency announced that Emmanuel Macron admitted Tuesday that the martyr Ali Boumendjel was tortured and murdered by the French armed forces during the Algerian liberation revolution and that he did not commit suicide as Paris tried to cover up the crime at the time.

The Elysée Palace added that Boumendjel “was arrested by the French army in the midst of the Battle of Algiers, and he was placed incommunicado, tortured and then killed on March 23, 1957”.

President Macron himself recognized “in the name of France” and in front of Boumendjel’s grandchildren, who were received on Tuesday at the Elysée Palace, as part of initiatives recommended by the historian Benjamin Stora in his report on the memory of colonialism, that Ali Boumendjel did not commit suicide and that he was tortured and then killed.

In 2000, the former head of French intelligence in Algiers Paul Aussaresses confessed to ordering Boumendjel’s death and disguising the murder as a suicide, according to the statement.

“Macron on Tuesday had also reiterated his desire to allow families to find out the truth about this chapter of history”, it added.

Last month, Boumendjel’s niece Fadela Boumendjel-Chitour denounced what she called the “devastating” lie the French state had told about her uncle.