Algerian authorities have arrested the son of an Algerian official and a number of prominent security figures on charges of spying with a foreign country and leaking sensitive information that threatens Algeria’s national security.
Algerian media reported that the Public Prosecutor at the Criminal Court of Appeal had petitioned the Algerian Judicial Council to apply the death penalty to the official’s son, and also requested a 20-year prison sentence for Air Algérie’s flight attendants.
This comes after the official’s son was prosecuted on charges of espionage, as it was discovered that he had suspicious meetings with politicians and security personnel affiliated with Israeli intelligence.
In 2017, Algerian security managed to shoot down an international network suspected of working for Israeli intelligence in the city of Ghardaia, south of the capital Algiers, where it found advanced spy equipment.
Initial investigations of the arrested Libyan, Ethiopian, Malian, Liberian, Nigerian, Ghanaian, and Kenyan nationalities reportedly revealed that they were working for Israel and were found in possession of sophisticated communications and imaging equipment that were planned to be used to document scenes of sensitive security institutions.
Inciting documents, seditious leaflets, CDs with Hebrew-language texts, and videos of protests in Algeria were also found.
According to reports, their arrest followed information about the presence of a foreign group distributing documents inciting sedition.
The Ghardaia court ordered the suspects to be temporarily detained on charges of espionage, creating confusion and breaching state security, pending trial.
Algeria announces the arrest of 10 people “supporting terrorism” and the thwarting of drug smuggling from Morocco