On-the-run Islamists sentenced
2007-11-07 14:14
Algiers - Ten Islamic fundamentalists convicted of a terrorist attack have been sentenced to death in their absence by an Algerian court, say judicial sources.
The ten - all on the run - were all found guilty of "belonging to an armed terrorist group, premeditated murder and attempted assassination" by a criminal court in Tizi Ouzou, 110km east of the capital.
The group was behind a bomb attack on a police patrol in June 2003 in which nine officers were killed.
The death sentence was passed by the court on Monday, according to the same source.
Since June 2007, nearly 100 death sentences had been passed against armed Islamists on the run by Algerian courts.
The death sentence had not been used in Algeria since August 1993 when seven Islamists were shot by firing squad after being found guilty of a bomb attack on Algiers airport the previous year, which left nine dead and about 30 injured.
- AFP