The case has now crossed the Mediterranean. On the evening of August 29, a Franco-Moroccan and a Moroccan lost their lives, killed by Algerian coastguards while on jet skis off the Algerian-Moroccan border. This Tuesday morning, according to our information, a complaint was filed in Paris by their relatives.
The complaint was filed against X for “assassination, attempted assassination, hijacking of a ship and failure to assist a person in danger”, specifies the family’s lawyer in France, Me Hakim Chergui. It aims to determine who killed Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Mechouar, two fathers from Seine-Saint-Denis while on vacation in Morocco. In parallel, this Monday, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for intentional homicide and entrusted it to the criminal brigade of the Paris judicial police, specifies AFP.
As Mohamed Kissi said, the only one to come out unscathed, four men (two brothers, their cousin and a friend) decided to embark on a jet-ski on August 29 around 4 p.m. at the seaside resort of Saidia. According to him, they got lost in the evening and drifted to neighboring Algeria instead of returning to Morocco. They then entered Algerian territorial waters, their fuel tanks almost empty.
At 7:47 p.m., they come across Algerian coast guards. According to Mohamed Kissi, a Zodiac rammed the group and the holidaymakers tried to explain their situation before heading back the other way. The coast guards would then have fired in their direction, hitting two of them fatally, and wounding a third. Mohamed Kissi managed to get away and stopped so as not to be the target of shots. He was rescued by the Royal Moroccan Navy. Franco-Moroccan Smaïl Snabé was arrested by the Algerian Coast Guard. He is still detained in Algeria, where he would have been sentenced in immediate appearance for illegal entry into the territory.
Contacted by Le Point, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not wish to “comment on a court decision”. On the other hand, its services ensure that it follows “carefully the situation of this national, in connection with his family”. “A consular visit will be made to him upon receipt of the necessary authorizations, under the consular protection which any Frenchman detained abroad can benefit from”, specifies the Quai d’Orsay.
In a statement from the Algerian Ministry of Defense last Sunday, the authorities admitted to having shot the two victims. The body of one of the two deceased was not recovered until the following day. A thesis which questions the lawyer of the relatives of the victims, Me Hakim Chergui. “Who’s to believe they couldn’t get it back right away?” asks the lawyer. He was left for dead. Maybe to send a message? »
The Algerian authorities refer to a “refusal to comply”. They reportedly first signaled each other with a “voice warning” before firing the warning shots, as this area is “known for its drug trafficking and organized crime activities”. “The authorities will have to justify the proportionality of their actions. This is an extrajudicial execution, they were unarmed, in shorts, they were shot like rabbits, “reacts Me Hakim Chergui.
According to the Moroccan media Le 360, the two deceased are from Seine-Saint-Denis. Bilal Kissi, 29, was a trader in Clichy-sous-Bois while Abdelali Mechouar, 40, was a trader in Montfermeil. His parents demand the repatriation of his body in order to be able to bury him. On the Moroccan side, the authorities remain cautious. The National Human Rights Council (CNDH, official body) however denounced “the use of live ammunition by the Algerian coastguards in the eastern territorial waters of the Mediterranean against unarmed citizens, instead of taking the initiative to rescue, as is universally known, and bring succor and assistance to those lost at sea, which constitutes a serious violation of international standards and international human rights law”.