ALGERIAN COURT SENTENCES 10 ISLAMISTS TO DEATH

December 4, 2008: a court in Algeria sentenced 10 Islamists to death in absentia on charges of participating in attacks, the APS news agency reported. An 11th defendant was sent to prison for five years. The 11 men, whose identities were not disclosed, were on trial for membership of an "armed terrorist group", planting explosives in a public space, blowing up homes and cars, attempted murder and destroying property. Some accused had already been sentenced to death and prison sentences by the same court earlier. The case was opened in January when the 11th defendant, identified only as S.L. from Si Mustapha near Boumerdes, 50 kilometers from the capital Algiers, was arrested in a cafe of his hometown in the company of three other men.
The agency said the arrests were made after a tip-off that a group supporting a terrorist network was operating in Si Mustapha. (Sources: Easy Bourse, 04/12/2008)