Canadian anti-crime researcher detained in Algeria to stand trial in August
Global News
Raouf Farrah has been detained in Algeria since February on charges he published secret information and accepted money to commit offences against public order.
A Canadian researcher who has been detained in Algeria since February on charges that he published secret information and accepted money to commit offences against public order will stand trial next month.
Raouf Farrah’s trial has been set for Aug. 8 in the eastern Algerian city of Constantine, his lawyer Kouceila Zerguine said Tuesday, adding that his client is innocent.
“He didn’t commit the two crimes that he has been charged with,” Zerguine said during an interview from Algeria. “During the inquiry, we submitted all the material evidence that refutes the charges.”
Farrah’s 67-year-old father, Sebti Farrah, a Montreal-area resident, was arrested with his son while they were visiting relatives in Algeria and is scheduled to stand trial at the same time. Released on bail in mid-April after his health deteriorated, the father is also charged with receiving funds to commit offences against public order.
Zerguine said the younger Farrah is also experiencing health problems, as a knee injury for which he had been receiving physical therapy has worsened during his time in jail. However, three requests for pretrial release have been denied, Zerguine said.
Friends, family members and colleagues have been calling for Farrah’s release since he was jailed on Feb. 20.
Mark Micallef, the director of the North Africa and the Sahel Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, where Farrah worked as a senior analyst, said his colleague was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He said Farrah’s legal ordeal stems from the fact that he knows people who were involved in aiding the escape of a pro-democracy activist who had been banned from leaving Algeria. Micallef said Farrah doesn’t know the activist, Amira Bouraoui, and wasn’t involved in her flight.
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