Mourad Dhina : 100 days of detention - enough!

24 Apr 2012
#FREEMOURAD
Dr Mourad Dhina was arrested on 16 January 2012 following a politically motivated extradition request by Algiers. Today, he has been held in the La Santé prison in Paris for 100 days. All of his requests for release to house arrest were refused despite the guarantees presented by the defense. 
The Paris Court, on 4 April 2012, pushed back the examination of the file to a hearing on 6 June, extending Dr Dhina's detention for a further 2 months. This decision was taken notwithstanding the fact that the president of the court and the prosecutor both publically highlighted the incoherence in the documents sent by Algiers and their non-conformity with both the bilateral extradition convention of 1964 and the relevant clauses of the French criminal code of procedures.

This extradition request, which includes no description of any offences committed, nor dates of these and which refers to contradictory documents, would have been rejected by the French judiciary were to concern anyone else than an Algerian opposition figure. Could we imagine for a second that France, in 2012, would arrest and detain an opponent of Bashar Al Assad?

Faced with this incomplete file and with such errors on behalf of the Algerian state, which made the extradition request, it would have been logical for the Court to reject this request or at the very least allow for Dr Dhina to be released to house arrest whilst waiting for hypothetical "further information" from the Algerians. However, the current situation shows clearly that this case is being treated along the lines of the usual, very particular French relations with the Algerian regime.

Today, more than ever, it is crucial to mobilize all efforts for the release of Dr Mourad Dhina. Many of us, who have signed the petition and attended demonstrations, wonder what more we can do to show our outrage.

The FreeMourad Committee proposes that all the signatories mobilize public opinion in their countries, to ensure that the petition, already signed by nearly 2000 people, be signed by as many people as possible. This petition will again be sent to the future Prime Minister. The text of the petition and a form for collecting signatures are attached. Signatories can sign the petition online (www.freemourad.org/petition) or send signed forms to: petition@freemourad.org

In order to express your solidarity with Mourad Dhina, you can also write to him at the following address:

Dr. Mourad Dhina
N° d'écrou 295034
Maison d'Arrèt de la Santé
42, rue de la santé
15014 Paris
France