Almost 55,000 Algerians involved in “terrorist offences” have faced prosecution in their country since the 1990s, Algerian Justice Minister Tayeb Louh revealed on Monday.
Louh revealed his startling figures during a session in the upper chamber of the Algerian parliament, noting that there is currently a database of information about all of these terrorism suspects that was set up in 2014.
According to Louh, the number includes those who were pardoned under the terms of a political agreement and amnesty following a referendum conducted in 2005. In total, 54,457 people had been investigated and prosecuted.
In September, Algeria’s main military chief, Ahmed Saleh, said: “In the near future, we will make the terror phenomenon in our country something from the past whatever the circumstances are.”
Brutal clashes erupted in Algeria between armed groups and the security forces after the Algerian army had carried out a coup following the parliamentary victory of an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1992.
The conflict claimed the lives of about 200,000 Algerians before it ended in 2005 after a referendum, which conditionally pardoned those fighting against the coup regime on condition that they lay down their arms.
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