Fouad Boulemia, born in 1973, is a former guerrilla of the

Armed Islamic Group The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from french: Groupe Islamique Armé; ar, الجماعة الإسلامية المسلّحة, al-Jamāʿa l-ʾIslāmiyya l-Musallaḥa) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian gove ...

, found guilty of killing

Abdelkader Hachani Abdelkader Hachani (; ar, عبد القادر حشاني; 26 December 1956 – 22 November 1999) was a leading figure and founding member of the Islamic Salvation Front (or FIS), an Algerian Islamic party. Career Following the arrests of Abassi ...

and of participating in the

Bentalha massacre At the village of Bentalha ( ar, بن طلحة), south of Algiers, on the night of 22–23 September 1997, more than 200 villagers (according to Amnesty International) were killed by armed guerrillas. The number of deaths reported ranged fro ...

Biography

Boulemia was a member of the

, an organisation fighting both the Algerian government and the

Islamic Salvation Army The Islamic Salvation Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية للإنقاذ, al-Jabhah al-Islāmiyah lil-Inqādh; french: Front Islamique du Salut, FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representi ...

and frequently targeting civilians, between the spring of 1995 and 1999.

, a leading member of the

Islamic Salvation Front The Islamic Salvation Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية للإنقاذ, al-Jabhah al-Islāmiyah lil-Inqādh; french: Front Islamique du Salut, FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representi ...

, was assassinated on November 22, 1999, soon after being released from prison. In December the government announced that it had arrested Fouad Boulemia for his murder. Boulemia was sentenced to death on April 12, 2001 after a one-day trial. At the trial, he claimed to have been tortured by the secret services and threatened by General Toufik in person to force him to sign a confession that he now repudiated. This confession stated that, coincidentally finding himself in the dentist's waiting room with Hachani, he spontaneously decided to kill Hachani because Hachani was a leading figure of the Djaz'ara ( Algerianisation) wing of the

, and pulled out his weapon, shot Hachani, and ran away. In this trial, he was questioned neither by his lawyer, Maître Khemis, nor by the prosecuto

Two witnesses reported seeing Boulemia shoot Hachani, although one was reported to have previously claimed to have seen a man named Abdelaoui, with a quite different physical appearance, shoot Hachan

He was sentenced to death again on August 1, 2004 for taking part in the

, where more than 200 villagers were killed by armed guerrilla

He was released from

Serkadji prison Serkadji Prison, formerly Barberousse Prison, is a high-security prison in Algiers, Algeria; in 1995, about two-thirds of the 1,500 prisoners detained are (or were) accused or convicted of terrorism. History The Barberousse Prison was constructe ...

on March 10, 2006
''Liberté'' 11 March 2006
, shortly after the

Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation The Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation was a charter proposed by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in an attempt to bring closure to the Algerian Civil War by offering an amnesty for most violence committed in it. The referendum ...

came into force.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulemia, Fouad 1973 births Living people Politics of Algeria