ALGIERS (AFP)
An Algerian court sentenced 12 Islamists to death in absentia for their role in a January suicide car bomb attack on a police headquarters that killed three people, APS news agency reported Friday.
Nine people who were in court were jailed for between 18 months and 20 years for their part in the attack. Another three were discharged at the hearing late Thursday, APS said.
The January 29 attack on a police headquarters in Boumerdes, east of Algiers, which also left many people injured and major damage, was claimed by al-Qaeda's North African offshoot, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The 21 Islamists were charged with terrorism, corruption and holding fake documents, APS said.
In the first six months of the year, Boumerdes criminal court condemned 218 people to death in absentia. Algeria has not applied the death penalty for about 15 years, according to official figures. |
