Supreme Court rejects Abdelmoumene Khalifa's appeal

Supreme Court rejected an appeal against the Indictment Chamber decision at Blida Judicial Court, which was made by the main suspect in the case of “Khalifa Bank”, Abdelmoumene Khalifa, in the end of last year’s December, pending the review of the “veto” decision to appeal against the court’s decision that was issued in March 2007, when he was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia.

Sources close to Echorouk said that the Supreme Court, which registered an appeal that was filed by Rafik Abdelmoumen Khalifa, regarding the referral decision that was issued in the room of charge of Blida district council in 2007, and then has been rejected, according to the legal procedures, and is considering the appeal’s decision by “veto” against the decision of the Criminal Court that was issued against him, and which sentenced him with life imprisonment in the Khalifa Bank case.

In this context, lawyer Mokrane Ait Larbi told Echorouk on Friday, that the appeal before the Supreme Court against the decision of the impermissible delay, and therefore the decision of the indictment room will become final once the delay action will be hanged on the concerned person’s door, and if he will not attend the trial, the indictment room’s decision will be final, and therefore the Supreme Court will reject the appeal in the decision that is issued against him at the indictment room of Blida Court Council in 2007.

“Same thing is applied for the appeal that was made ​​by Abdelmoumene Khalifa, regarding the decision of the criminal court which sentenced him to life imprisonment. This decision will be rejected. What are the main reasons that prompted the main accused in the “Khalifa” case to present the appeal”.

“The only way that is left for Abdelmoumene is the Criminal Court, because the judgment in absentia falls upon arriving at the prison under Article 326 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states that the judgment in absentia automatically lapses when the sentenced person attends trial and he does not need any action, so Khalifa would be the accused and not the convicted, and then he will benefit from the presumption of being not guilty, and thus he has the right to demand a fair trial in accordance with Article 14 of the International Convention for Civil and Political Rights, that was ratified by Algeria.

Sources told Echorouk that Khalifa was aware that the Supreme Court will reject his appeals, but he decided to do this in order to gain time so as not to be tried before the Presidential Elections.

It is known that the main suspect in the case of what is known as “Scandal of the Century”, which was handed over to Algeria by the British authorities on last December 24, presented appeals before the Supreme Court on December 26, the first is related to the referral decision against him by the indictment room of Blida Judicial Court, and the second against the decision of the Criminal Court that was issued against him in 2007, as he was sentenced to life imprisonment.