An Algerian court has sentenced a jihadist to death for kidnapping and beheading a French mountaineer six years ago, following a high-profile one-day trial.
The assassination of Hervé Gourdel in 2014 was claimed by a jihadist faction affiliated with the Islamic State group.
Gourdel, 55, was abducted while exploring the rugged massif in the North African nation of Djurdjura National Park, a draw for hikers but also a sanctuary for jihadists.
Three days after he disappeared, gunmen from the militant group Jund al-Khilafah – Soldiers of the Califhate – released a gruesome video of his murder.
The trial opened on Thursday with 14 defendants, eight of whom are accused of being jihadists and charged with Gourdel’s kidnapping and murder.
However, only one of the eight, Abdelmalek Hamzaoui, is in custody. The other seven were tried and sentenced to death in absentia.
Hamzaoui was taken to court by ambulance on Thursday, accompanied by a medical team and looked after by police special forces.
At the request of the defense lawyers, the opening of the trial was delayed for two weeks due to his poor health.
Hamzaoui questioned the judge and denied that he had participated in the kidnapping and murder of Gourdel. He told the court he was only being accused of ‘closing the case and pleasing the French’.
Hamzaoui was convicted and sentenced to death, although there has been a moratorium on executions in Algeria since 1993.
Members of Gourdel’s family, including his partner, Francoise Grandclaude, were in the public gallery.
‘I find it very difficult to talk about him [Gourdel]”We are still shocked,” Grandclaude said. “But I remember that the main accused are very contradictory.”
Six others who are also on trial are accused of not immediately notifying the authorities of Gourdel’s kidnapping, the AFP journalist was acquitted in court.
Five were Gourdel’s climbing companions, who spent 14 hours in prison with him before being released.
Four of them formally identified Hamzaoui in court as one of the kidnappers.
“I remember Herve’s last look when they forcibly took him away,” testified Hamza Boukamoum, one of his climbing guides.
“We tried to stop them, but they pushed us back and said, ‘You do not care, he is not a Muslim.’ “
According to their lawyers, they were also the victims of the kidnapping, while a sixth man, whose car was stolen to transport Gourdel, was also released from charges.
The murder of Gourdel sparked outrage in France and Algeria, where it evoked memories of the 1992-2002 civil war between Islamists and the army, which left about 200,000 dead.
The assassination took place after the dramatic takeover of the Islamic State group in northern Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014.
Adventure lover Gourdel traveled to Algeria at the invitation of his climbing companions to try out a new climb.
His kidnappers demanded an end to airstrikes against Isis in Iraq and Syria by a US coalition that included France. Paris rejected their claim.
Gourdel’s body was only recovered in January of the following year after an operation involving about 3,000 Algerian troops. His remains were trapped in a grave.
In February, Grandclaude welcomed the fact that the trial “finally takes place”. She said it was “very personal” and said the process “could provide hope for the families and loved ones of the victims of terrorism”.