Tens of Algerian people living abroad to be sentenced to prison once arrived to home land

Tens of Algerian people living abroad are expected to be prosecuted and sentenced to prison once they arrive to Algeria to spend holidays. They will be brought to police stations and courts directly from airports and ports, a jurist told Echorouk.

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• “Many of Algerian people living abroad are surprised by prison sentences in Algeria,” said Ammar Rekhila.
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• He added that they have been prosecuted since the black decade ore before that. “Some 90 percent of them are on family negligence-related charges.”
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• He said they left Algeria in the 1960’s and 1970’s searching for job or escaping social problems. “Most of them have medium education level. They neglected their families. Some of them who did not get divorced came back as they were afraid of loneliness.”
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• According to some judicial sources, more than 500,000 prison sentences have been issued for 5 years against Algerian people living abroad. Of them, 400 lawsuits against elderly people who were sentenced, years ago.
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• An Algerian man left Algeria and went to France in the 1960’s and was using his neighbour’s identity. He was arrested last year in the international airport of Algiers Houari Boumediene. He justified his act by saying he was afraid that he would be mobilised in the war in Germany during the French colonisation.
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• A court in Algiers is expected to decide in the case of an Algerian man living in Saudi Arabia using a fake birth certificate in the name of a rich family in Algeria. Saudi authorities contacted their embassy in Algeria. The man was prosecuted and arrested by the Interpol then transferred to his country.
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• “Family neglecting which means leaving family for two months and giving up obligations does not involve military personalities and officials who have to leave their families for work,” said Rekhila.
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• “Some of the Algerian people who left the country in the 1970’s to look for job did not care about their wives and children without being aware of their responsibility,” he added.
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• “Those who did not get divorced are charged on family neglecting.”
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• Article No 331 of the Penal Code stipulates that any person prosecuted for family neglecting will be sentenced to two months or one year in prison and get a 25,000 DZ or 100,000 DZ fine.