The case of Ali Mecili was covered in Algeria P&S - 03.09.10. Mecili was an opponent of the Algerian regime who escaped to France in 1966 where he then practised as a lawyer and married a French woman before being assassinated in Paris in 1987, allegedly by a DRS operative named Amellu. Mecili's name recently came back into prominence because of the much-publicised Hassani case at the end of August.
This week, Hicham Aboud, the DRS' 'special envoy' in France, responsible for the infiltration of opposition movements to Algeria, wrote a long and vicious smear of Mecili's memory. “Mecili,” said Aboud, “has been described as a political opponent of Algeria assassinated by Algeria's secret services.” That, Aboud said, was not true. Rather, Mecili had French nationality through his father's grandfather. He was, in fact, a 'harki' (one of the most insulting terms that can be used against an Algerian).
“Ali”, said Aboud, “is the name of a Harki. He was married to a French woman, his children have French first names and French nationality. It is true that he participated in the Algerian revolution, like many other Frenchmen who followed the example of Maurice Audin ...”
[Ed. Audin was a French mathematics lecturer at Algiers University and a member of the Algerian Communist Party who threw in his lot with the Algerian cause. He died in June 1957 while being tortured by one of Jacques Massu's specialist torturers, a lieutenant and graduate of St Cyr, nicknamed 'the doctor' because he liked to use a scalpel on his victims.]
For more news and expert analysis about Algeria please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.
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