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France jails Islamic radicals

Mohamed Chalabi, Mourad Tacine and Mohamed Kerrouche, were among 138 men accused of backing Islamic radicals seeking to overthrow the Algerian Government.

They were sentenced to eight years following a controversial trial that sparked a boycott by most of the defendants and their lawyers.

The case was also heavily criticised in a new human rights report which slammed France's anti-terrorist laws and accused judges of holding "medieval inquisitions".

Of the remaining defendants, the court jailed 21 men for between four and six years. The Associated Press said charges were dismissed against a further 51, but gave no verdicts for the other suspects.

The men, who were arrested in 1994 and 1995, had all been charged with "criminal association with a terrorist enterprise".

They were said to have given weapons and logistical support to several radical Algerian organisations including the Armed Islamic Group (GIA).

The two-month trial began in September, but most of the defendants on bail walked out in the first week along with their lawyers.

They said trying such a large number of people together deprived them of individual justice. And they objected to the trial being held in a prison service gymnasium instead of a court.

The Paris Bar Association, which represents the capital's lawyers, also expressed unease about the trial's nature and setting.

'Medieval inquisitions'

The verdicts follow condemnation of France's anti-terrorist legislation by human rights lawyers.

In a new report, the International Human Rights Federation calls for the catch-all charge of ''criminal association'' to be removed from the books.

It accuses prosecutors of violating human rights, staging show trials and keeping terrorism suspects in custody for unnecessary lengths of time.

France's four anti-terrorism judges also come under fire for conducting "chaotic" interrogations which "do not respect proper legal procedure".

The report says they have "assumed the worst" and conducted what amounts to an "inquisition in the medieval sense of the word".

Algerian civil war

The Algerian security forces have been engaged in a civil war with the GIA since the cancellation of elections in 1992 which the main Islamist party seemed poised to win.

An estimated 75,000 people, including Islamic militants, civilians and security forces, have been killed since 1992.

Relevant Stories

Scuffles at French Islamists' trial (03 Sep 98 | Europe)
French Islamists' trial resumes - without lawyers (02 Sep 98 | Europe)
Chaos at French Islamist trial (02 Sep 98 | Europe)

Internet Links

French Ministry of Justice (in French)
ArabNet: Algeria
Intrernational Federation of Human Rights

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