Officials "find" missing case-file

Reporters Without Borders today welcomed the sudden "discovery" of a missing file in the appeal by imprisoned newspaper editor Mohamed Benchicou against his two-year jail sentence. The file was supposedly lost more than three weeks ago by the supreme court. The worldwide press freedom organisation said it was still worried about the legal irregularities and failings in the case. "The file certainly did not disappear by accident," it said. "This episode has delayed the case and we still do not know which level of the court will deal with it." Benchicou's lawyers announced on 25 July that the appeal case-file, submitted last 24 October, had been lost by the court. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 25.07.2005 Unprecedented denial of justice in Benchicou case Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage today at the disappearance of the court case file of Le Matin editor Mohammed Benchicou, who has appealed against his conviction and imprisonment to the supreme court. The file has reportedly been "mislaid" by the authorities. "The judicial authorities continue to hound Benchicou after refusing to release him on 20 April on health grounds," the press freedom organisation said. "His newspaper has been closed for a year and there has been no let-up in the judicial harassment since his conviction, so we are not fooled now. His case file has clearly not been lost by chance." Benchicou's lawyers revealed in a statement today that his case file, which was forwarded by the prosecutor's office on 24 October, "cannot be found at the supreme court level." They said they had been unsuccessful in their approaches to all of the supreme court clerk offices concerned. If the file is not found quickly, Benchicou will be unable to exercise his right of challenge within a reasonable period against the heavy sentence that was upheld on appeal on 11 August, which would constitute a "blatant denial of justice that is unprecedented in our country's judicial history," the lawyers said. Benchicou has been serving a two-year prison sentence since 14 June 2004. Le Matin opposed President Bouteflika during his campaign for re-election in April 2004. Previously, in February 2004, Benchicou published a scathing booklet about him entitled, "Bouteflika, an Algerian imposter."