Algerian Islamist Djamel Beghal sent back to his homeland

Paris – Algerian Islamist Djamel Beghal, considered as the mentor of Chérif Kouachi and Amédy Coulibaly, two of the perpetrators of the January 2015 attacks in Paris, was expelled Monday to his homeland after his death. French prison.
  

The 52-year-old Algerian, who has been deprived of French nationality, was released at 5:20 am (0320 GMT) and taken care of by the border police, the prison administration told AFP, " adopted a calm behavior and was not surprised at the time of his departure "L

He then took off shortly after 10:30 from the Paris Roissy airport towards Algiers, indicated sources close to the file.

The plane was scheduled to land at the end of the morning in Algiers but the Algerian authorities have not officially communicated on this matter since Paris had announced to negotiate its expulsion with Algeria and no information could be obtained in Algeria on his fate upon his arrival.

The Algerian public media did not address the subject on Monday, any more than the private television channels and only a few online media announced its expulsion, without mentioning its arrival.

In the sight of the French authorities since the mid-1990s, Djamel Beghal was declared deportable in 2007, two years after being sentenced to 10 years in prison for terrorist criminal conspiracy.

In Vezin-le-Coquet, in Brittany (west), he finished serving his second sentence of 10 years in prison for a project of escape in 2010 of Smaïn Aït Ali Belkacem, former Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) ) sentenced to life for the attack on the RER Station Musée d'Orsay in 1995 in Paris.

It was not possible to know if Djamel Beghal was subject to possible prosecution in his native country.

On his plane's flight, Djamel Beghal " will be heard by the security services for a few hours and then released ," the former president of the Algerian League for the Defense of Rights told AFP. of the man (LADDH), Me Mustapha Bouchachi, lawyer but who does not represent Mr. Beghal.

The Algerian authorities can not keep him in detention, " unless he is prosecuted in Algeria in another case ," he explained, without being able to comment on it.

Another Algerian lawyer who had to deal with similar cases and who requested anonymity, did not rule out that he was placed on his arrival in custody, renewable for up to 12 days in the matter. of terrorism in Algeria.

The French authorities, who wanted to see him return to Algeria, had been discussing for several weeks with Algiers the conditions for his return to his native country, which he had left at the age of 21 to come to France.

– " Adequate Solution " –

Beghal himself favored this option. " Ten years ago, we had blocked his deportation to Algeria because of the risk of torture, and the climate seems now more peaceful ," his lawyer Bérenger Tourné told AFP.

In June 2017, he had himself filed an application for " parole-expulsion " to Algeria, rejected by the French courts because of doubts about his " algerianity ] ".

This time, Djamel Beghal wanted especially not to find himself again under house arrest, which returned for him " to remain deprived of freedom to come and go ", explained Me Bérenger Tourné .

Djamel Beghal has carried out a total of nearly 17 years of detention in French prisons. He has become a reference for three generations of jihadist apprentices.

Sentenced in 2005, he admitted, before retracting that he had been tortured by Emirati investigators, that he had been commissioned by a relative of bin Laden to prepare an attack on the US embbady and cultural center.

It is in the prison of Fleury-Mérogis, in the suburbs of Paris, that he meets the future perpetrators of the January 2015 killings at Charlie Hebdo and the Hyper Cacher store. According to the investigators, he becomes their " mentor ", respected for his " religious science ".

Released in 2009, he is under house arrest in the Cantal (center), pending a possible expulsion – which is opposed by the European Court of Human Rights. Photos show him alongside Amédy Coulibaly, who came to visit him. He was arrested again in 2010 and spent a total of 10 years in solitary confinement.

pr-grd-aag-AYV / EPE / lv / fjb