Algerian lawyers demanded the release of retired Major General Ali Ghediri, who went on a hunger strike last week and which was suspended when he tested positive for the coronavirus.
Ghediri’s lawyer, Khalid Burayo, told Asharq Al-Awsat that his client's condition is stable.
He asked the prison administration to transfer him to a hospital for treatment, and urged the authorities to issue orders for the judiciary to temporarily release him, pending his trial.
In June 2019, authorities convicted Ghediri, and then army chief of staff Lieutenant-General Ahmed Gaid Saleh ordered his imprisonment.
Burayo stressed that Ghediri’s infection with the COVID-19 disease is a strong reason for the authorities to release him, especially since he has been in pretrial detention for over a year, and his charge does not require him to be kept in prison.
Ghediri, 65, has been accused of “treason and spying for the benefit of foreign powers” and “attempting to weaken the army’s morale.”
A few months ago, he was acquitted of the first charge, and Burayo said the second is “political” after Ghediri made a few media statements concerning the army, which didn’t appease the military leadership, in reference to Gaid Saleh, who died of a heart attack at the end of last year.
The lawyer confirmed that Ghediri’s case has all the conditions for a temporary release, which is a legal mechanism that compensates pretrial detention for defendants who are not involved in serious crimes.
He wondered if giving political statements is a crime that deserves imprisonment.
Ghediri is a former official of the Defense Ministry and ran for the presidential elections in 2019.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Miloud Brahimi stated that his clients, former Trade Minister Amara Benyounes and former director general of a state tourism company, Hamid Melzi, contracted the coronavirus a week ago. Both were prominent officials during the rule of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and are accused of corruption.
The lawyer confirmed that the former chief of protocol at the presidency, Mokhtar Reguieg, was transferred from his cell to the prison clinic after showing symptoms of COVID-19. Reguieg, a top Bouteflika aide, is also accused of corruption.
Brahimi, one of the founders of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH), said that putting hundreds of prisoners in pretrial detention increases the possibility of infection spreading among them.
He called on President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to release those who do not pose a threat to society.
Last week, the family of former minister Musa Benhamadi accused the prison administration of negligence after he died in prison from COVID-19.
In addition, two former prime ministers, Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal, who are both convicted with heavy sentences, have suffered complications due to the coronavirus and have been in hospital for the past week.
