The Assistant Public Prosecutor of the Oran Judicial Council, Boumediene Rosal, provided clarifications regarding the case of Kamal Daoud, against whom a three-year prison sentence was issued in absentia and a fine, in order to refute the accused’s allegations and respond to the media campaign led by the French far right, which claims that there was “targeting” of the writer.
Rosal explained, in a statement to the Algeria International channel, that “the filing of the public lawsuit and the initiation of criminal procedures was not done by the Public Prosecution, but rather based on complaints submitted by the victims.”
He pointed out that Kamal Dawoud is being followed up judicially by the National Organization for Victims of Terrorism, in addition to the victim, His Excellency Araban, stressing that “the course of criminal procedures guarantees any victim the right to file a public lawsuit, independently of the Public Prosecution, by filing a complaint with the establishment as a civil party before the investigating judge, who is obligated by the force of the law to investigate and follow up on the complaint.”
He also stated that the accused was summoned several times to his last known residence address in Oran, and that the investigation lasted more than a year, which gave him the opportunity to attend and present his defence. After the investigation was completed, the file was referred to the misdemeanor department of the Flausen Court, where he was notified several times to appear at the hearing.
At the conclusion of the trial, a ruling was issued in absentia convicting him, with the minimum legal penalty, which is: three years imprisonment, a fine of 300,000 Algerian dinars, and compensation in favor of the Terrorism Victims Association.
The judicial official confirmed that the accused has the right to submit a legal objection that leads to the cancellation of the absentia judgment.
Kamal Daoud was convicted, a week ago, in a first case filed by the National Organization for Victims of Terrorism, and a second file is awaiting him based on a complaint from His Excellency Arab on the same charges, related to Article 46 of Order 06/01, which includes the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation.
The case relates to the exploitation of the tragic personal story of the victim, Saada Araban, who lost members of her family at the hands of terrorist groups and suffered injuries that caused her to lose her vocal cords, without her consent – according to the complaint – through the novel “Houriyat”, which won the Goncourt Prize.
