Son of former late Algerian President Mohamed Boudiaf has requested questioning former defense minister and former intelligence chief, who is currently in jail, in regard of his father's assassination 27 years ago.
On the anniversary of his father's assassination on June 29, 1992, Nacer Boudiaf made press statements in which he accused General Mohamed Mediene, aka, Toufik, and General Khaled Nezzar of receiving orders from former French President Francois Mitterrand to kill his father because he posed a threat for France’s interests in Algeria.
A bodyguard assassinated the late president during a televised public speech at the opening of a cultural center in Annaba on his first visit outside Algiers as head of state.
The assassin was Lieutenant Lambarek Boumaarafi. He was sentenced to death in a closed trial in 1995, but the sentence was not carried out. He also survived the mutiny of Algiers Serkadji prison, in June 1995, that killed 100 people, including 96 prisoners.
Notably, Mediene was the former head of the Algerian secret services, the Intelligence and Security Department, and Nezzar was former defense minister and member of the High Council of State under Mohamed Boudiaf, and they were both responsible for protecting France’s interests in their country.
Boudiaf called on Minister of Justice Slimane Brahmi to investigate with both officials on this case.
It is the first time that Boudiaf accuses the French presidency to be involved in the mysterious crime. He had formerly accused Algerian authorities of being responsible for his father's assassination. Yet, they didn’t take these charges into consideration due to lack of proofs.
Earlier, the army command accused Mediene of “conspiring against the state authority and the army” and imprisoned him on May 4 along with Said Bouteflika, former president’s brother, Bachir Tartag, former intelligence chief and Louisa Hanoun, 2014’s presidential candidate.
Nezzar, however, has been retired for many years now and is running businesses with his sons.
