Saïdia tragedy: the lawyer for the victims’ families threatened

On August 29, the Algerian coast guards had fired on four young vacationers - three Franco-Moroccans and one Moroccan - on jet-skis that had strayed into Algerian maritime space. Two of them, who are from Clichy-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis), were killed. A fisherman found the body of Bilal Kissi, a 29-year-old Franco-Moroccan national, floating on the Moroccan side. The body of Abdelali Mechaouer, a 40-year-old Moroccan national, was recovered the next day in Algerian waters and taken to the morgue in Tlemcen. Smail Nabi, also a Franco-Moroccan, was hit and detained by Algeria, which accuses him of illegally entering its territory until his conviction to 18 months in prison by the Tlemcen court. As for Mohamed Kissi, he was rescued by the Moroccan coast guards who were searching for them.

After the tragedy, Hakim Chergui, the lawyer for the families of Bilal Kissi and Adbelali Mchiouer, filed a complaint for murder. While Bilal’s body was recovered and buried in his village of Bni Drar in Oujda, Morocco, Abdelali’s remains are still in Algeria. "They have chilled my heart," his mother confides in a poignant video published by the media Hiba Press. "There is no contact between Morocco and Algeria. We are in the process of establishing it. As Abdelali is Moroccan, this file must be handled by the Moroccan authorities. But they cannot request documents, except through lawyers," explains Hakim Chergui. He intends to "reinject the law." "This is the best thing against passions," he believes. "We want to make the drama emblematic so that it becomes a quest for justice." But the task will be arduous for this Franco-Algerian lawyer used to sensitive international cases. He says he is receiving "threats." He can still count on some support. "But there are also many expressions of support from Algerians. They are in solidarity with these families and their dead. No one believes the Algerian version," he says.

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In a statement, the Algerian Ministry of National Defense said the coast guards had carried out "warning shots" before firing on the vacationers after they "refused to comply" and fled. A version of the facts contradicted by the testimony of the survivor Mohamed Kissi, witness to the tragedy. "They (the Algerian coast guards) knew perfectly well that they were dealing with lost vacationers and yet they fired," he accused in an interview with the media Le360. "A collective of Moroccans" is organizing this Sunday at 2 pm a rally in Paris (16th) at the Trocadéro, on the forecourt of the Human Rights, to denounce "the double murder of Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Mchiouer" and "a barbaric act".