FRANCE: TWO ALGERIANS SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR 1995 PARIS RAILWAY BOMBINGS.
Record ID:
574562
FRANCE: TWO ALGERIANS SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR 1995 PARIS RAILWAY BOMBINGS.
- Title: FRANCE: TWO ALGERIANS SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR 1995 PARIS RAILWAY BOMBINGS.
- Date: 31st October 2002
- Summary: (W8) PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 30, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/CU: EXTERIOR OF PARIS COURT OF JUSTICE; FRENCH FLAGS (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. GV/NV/GV/PAN: REPORTERS IN MAIN HALL; PLAINTIFFS WALKING TO COURT ROOM; REPORTERS (4 SHOTS) 0.27 3. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED PLAINTIFF SAYING: "Even though the bomber has not been clearly identified, Bensaid has not been sentenced for that, but has been found guilty of complicity. There's nothing to add. Personally, I'd like to know like any other families, the name of the bomber for Saint Michel attack. Anyway, it is possible that the one who planted the bomb was not here today." 1.03 4. GV: BOUALEM BENSAID RELATIVES LEAVING COURT AND ADDRESSING REPORTERS IN ARABIC LOOKING ANGRY 1.07 5. MV: POLICE STANDING 1.10 6. GV/PAN: BOUALEM BENSAID RELATIVES LEAVING COURT WITH ONE WOMAN HIDING BEHIND BLANKET 1.20 7. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (French) BENSAID LAWYER GUILLAUME BARBE SAYING: "The declaration of guilt, that has demonstrated that Mr Bensaid was not present in the RER Saint Michel on July 25, 1995, is a judicial truth that we have been trying to demonstrate for the past three years. Unfortunately, it has been decided that he was in Paris in July 1995. He wants to prove the opposite. Within few days, he will have to decide within few days if he wants to appeal the verdict. We will then see, but in any case, nothing has been clearly proved." 1.54 8. GV: REPORTERS 2.00 9. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (French) BENSAID'S LAWYER BENOIT DIETSCH SAYING: "Tonight, Bensaid is found guilty of complicity in the Saint Michel attack. He is not the bomber --the assize court put the problem on its agenda that is to say: is Bensaid the bomber of the attack on July 25, 1995-- the court has said tonight that he is considered guilty of complicity. He was not present, he did not plant the bomb in the RER on July 25 1995. Today, we have an attack without any bomber." 2.33 10. MV: PLAINTIFFS WALKING ALONG 2.40 11. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (French) MARTINE A PLAINTIFF SAYING: "Justice is done. It is not easy, he is 35 years old, same age as my daughter. He choose the wrong road. But justice is done. There is still one question : Why did he do it, we'll never know." 2.57 (W8) PARIS, FRANCE (FILE - JULY 25, 1995) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 12. VARIOUS: HELICOPTER AND RESCUE TEAMS; VARIOUS OF WOUNDED PEOPLE; WOUNDED MAN ON STRETCHER COMING OUT OF METRO AND TAKEN TO AMBULANCE; DEAD MAN ON STRETCHER COVERED WITH BLANKET (7 SHOTS) 3.50 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 15th November 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA2ZZ02D1MMOARYOOWFEGU0J4VO
- Story Text: Two Algerians accused of a 1995 bombing campaign in
Paris which killed eight and wounded nearly 200 people, were
sentenced to life imprisonment by a Paris assize court.
A Paris court sentenced two Algerians to life
imprisonment on Wednesday (October 30) for a nail bombing
campaign at railway stations in the French capital in 1995.
The court found Smain Ali Belkacem and Boualem Bensaid,
both 34 and already serving jail terms in France on
terror-related charges, guilty of two separate attacks using
home-made bombs to target civilians at train stations,
injuring some 44 people.
But after three-and-a-half hours of deliberation, the
courts seven judges acquitted Bensaid of directly causing the
most bloody attack during Frances worst post-war bombing
campaign -- the blast at Saint Michel metro station on July 25
1995, which killed eight people and wounded 150.
However, he was found guilty of complicity in the
atrocity.
Both men had denied all the charges.
"Tonight, Bensaid is found guilty of complicity in the
Saint Michel attack. He is not the bomber --the assize court
put the problem on its agenda that is to say: is Bensaid the
bomber of the attack on July 25, 1995-- the court has said
tonight that he can be guilty of complicity. He was not
present, he did not plant the bomb in the RER on July 25 1995.
Today, we have an attack without any bomber," said Benoit
Dietsch, Bensaid's lawyer.
One of the plaintiffs looking compassionate said: "He
chose the wrong road. But justice is done. There is still one
question: Why did he do it, we'll never know."
Algeria's Armed Islamic Group (GIA) claimed responsibility
for the attacks and 36 Algerian guerrillas received French
jail terms of up to 10 years in 1998.
The bombs, seen as revenge for French support of Algerian
authorities and coming just a year after French police shot
dead GIA members who had hijacked an Air France flight in
Marseille, were filled with nails and bolts to maim
bystanders.
The two ex-GIA leaders presumed to have ordered the
attacks, Djamel Zitouni and Ali Touchent, have both since been
killed in fighting between Algerian government forces and
Islamic rebels.
Judges have already postponed the trial of a third
suspect, 33-year-old Rachid Ramda, after London's High Court
overturned approval for his extradition given by the British
government.
Investigators believe Ramda provided logistical support
and financing for three attacks, including one at St Michel.
The High Court ruling prompted a rare complaint by French
Justice Minister Dominique Perben last month, and has been a
hot potato for London and Paris since Ramda's arrest in
Britain in November 1995. A separate British court will review
that ruling on November 23.
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