Franco-Moroccans killed in Algeria: investigation in France for voluntary homicide

Entrusted to the criminal brigade of the Paris judicial police, this investigation "must make it possible in particular to have a legal framework to collect elements," specifies the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, reports Le Monde. On Friday, France mentioned the death of a Frenchman and "the incarceration of another compatriot in Algeria in an incident involving several of our nationals." The French diplomacy will specify that it is the death of only one national, without providing further information. "The crisis and support center of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and our embassies in Morocco and Algeria are in close contact with the families of our citizens, to whom we provide all our support," it said in a statement, adding that France is in contact with the Moroccan and Algerian authorities and that the public prosecutor’s office has been informed.

According to the testimony of a survivor of the Saïdia tragedy, Mohamed Kissi, the elder brother of one of the victims, they were four young vacationers - three Franco-Moroccans and one Moroccan - each on a jet-ski on the Moroccan coast on Tuesday, August 29. Two of them were killed by the Algerian navy after they strayed. A fisherman found the body of Bilal Kissi, 29, a Franco-Moroccan national, floating on the Moroccan side. The body of Abdelali Mechaouer, 40, a Moroccan national, was recovered the next day in Algerian waters and taken to the morgue in Tlemcen. Wounded, Smail Nabi, also a Franco-Moroccan, was arrested and detained by Algeria, which accuses him of illegally entering its territory until his conviction. As for Mohamed Kissi, he was rescued by the Moroccan coast guard who were searching for them.

Last week, Hakim Chergui, one of the lawyers for the victims’ families, announced that a complaint will be filed "on Monday or Tuesday" in France for "aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, hijacking and failure to assist a person in danger." Citing a judicial source, the MAP reported that the Oujda public prosecutor’s office, a city in northeastern Morocco bordering Algeria, has ordered the opening of an investigation to determine the circumstances of a "violent incident at sea."

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On Sunday, Algeria confirmed the death of the two Franco-Moroccans. In a statement, the Algerian Ministry of National Defense said that "warning shots" were fired and then "gunfire" was opened in the face of "a refusal to comply" by the Moroccan vacationers. "After issuing a sound warning and repeatedly summoning them to stop, the suspects refused to comply and fled, performing dangerous maneuvers," the same source said, adding that after several warning shots, "gunfire was opened, forcing one of the jet-skis to stop, while the other two fled."