The Court Reopens the Case of the Piracy of 6 Thousand Telephone Lines

The Court of Hussein Dey in Algiers has decided to reopen the case of the hijacking of 6 thousand fixed telephone lines at Algerie Telecom, after concluding that some key evidences have been hidden deliberately to mislead detectives in charge of the investigation, in 2004. ‭‮

Well informed sources revealed to Echorouk reporter that the general prosecutor at the Court of Hussein Dey has ordered Algiers Police Station to reopen the investigation on the aforementioned case which dates back to 2004, inflicted the state run company 90 million DZD loss, after that two defendants who purged their prison sentence have filed an appeal, including former director of Hussein Dey agency of Algerie Telecom.   

In fact, after his release, the former director of Algerie Telecom agency, in Hussein Dey, assumes that key facts on the case had been deleted during the investigation conducted by the regional inspectorate for Algerie Telecom, at that time, in order to mislead detectives and justice. In addition, some detectives “played the blind” and avoided to conduct an expertise to detect the source of the piracy of 6 thousand fixed telephone lines, and ultimately identify the real offenders. 

Consequently, anti financial corruption unit at the Algiers Police Station have started on December 18 to reexamine the case, and summon concerned officials that served in Algerie Telecom in Hussein Dey, to cross-examination and questioning. 

The former director said the 6 thousand fixed telephone lines were damaged in the nineties by terror groups, while official of Algerie Telecom at that time did not cut connection to the damaged lines, and yet became an easy target for hijackers, inflicting, thus 90 million loss to the company. 

When the “victim” defendant was installed as director of the agency of Hussein Dey in 2001, he suspected an overuse of the informatics system by local employees who managed hijacking the telephone lines. He added that he filed reports to the Head Office and required to open an investigation on the issue, but in vain.  

He further specified that the agency of Hussein Dey switched suddenly from the analogical system into GAYA digital system, losing key data. 

The orator further accuses an expert at the French Sofrecom, namely Eric Rafain, who was in charge of installing the GAYA system, “as he introduced an unsecured digital code for the program in charge of controlling calls and monitoring telephone lines, making it program accessible to everyone, and vulnerable to piracy. But investigators ignored this detail, which is considered as a “turning point” in the case, he concluded.