Terrorism-related money laundering case before Justice

The criminal tribunal of the municipality of Sidi-M’hamed in Central Algiers is expected to hand down a final verdict on Thursday in a terrorism-related money laundering case involving 5 defendants including a former Emir or chieftain of the terrorist “Al Arkam” battalion and 4 of his relatives.

After a week of legal proceedings and hearings by the tribunal, the general prosecutor required a 15-year prison sentence for the main culprit and 10-years of imprisonment for the other defendants without any option for a remission of penalty.

He also asked the presiding court and the jury to impose on the accused a fine of 8 hundred million centimes and the seizure of all their property and belongings purchased by shady money wrenched from citizens by terrorist groups through blackmail, ransoms and racketeering in several parts of the country.

The defendants through their lawyer lamely denied the accusations leveled against them despite the blatant documentary evidence brought by the examining magistrate in the case.

 The main defendant, who joined the terrorist groups in 1994 before giving himself up in 2010, argued before the judge that he had had no contact with his family members during that period but evidence showed that his relatives bought several flats, villas, luxury cars and businesses in Algiers after moving from eastern Jijel province to the capital between 2007 and 2009.

 According to the magistrate’s findings, the latter secretly received billions of dinars hoarded by their elder brother who was then deeply involved in terrorist activities and racketeering in the eastern regions of the country.