Persecuted Algerian ex-minister dies in Switzerland Floods inundate parts of Germany – and now rain falls constantly

Former Algerian Defense Minister Khaled Nezzar, who was prosecuted by the Swiss legal system for crimes against humanity, died on Friday at the age of 86 in the Algerian capital Algiers. State television reported this.

In a message of condolence to the family, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Friday paid tribute to “one of the most distinguished military personalities” who dedicated his life “in the service of the nation.”

Charged in Switzerland

At the end of August, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against Nezzar at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. According to the indictment, between 1992 and 1994 he knowingly committed torture and “other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” violations of physical and psychological integrity, arbitrary detentions and convictions, as well as executions. His action plan aimed to “eradicate the Islamist opposition.”

“The independence of the judiciary does not justify irresponsibility, nor does any legal system claim the absolute right to judge the policies of a sovereign and independent state,” the Algerian Foreign Ministry responded in a telephone conversation with Ignazio Cassis. Algeria claimed that the case had reached “the limits of the intolerable and intolerable.”

Thousands died in the civil war

According to various public sources, up to 200,000 people were killed and approximately 1.5 million people were driven from their homes during the civil war between 1992 and 1999, also known as the “décennie noire”. Another 20,000 people are said to have disappeared.

Nezzar was arrested in Geneva in October 2011 following a complaint by a Swiss NGO and was later released. He then left Switzerland.

In 2017, the Attorney General closed the proceedings because Switzerland had no jurisdiction to convict him. However, a complaint forced the judiciary to reopen the procedure in 2018. (sda)