Algerian lawyer and national leader Ali Boumendjel - who French President Emmanuel Macron admitted to being "tortured and murdered" by the French army 64 years ago - occupies a special symbolism within the leaders of the Algerian liberation revolution against the occupation, given his human rights path full of defending the fighters of the Algerian revolution One of the highly educated revolutionary elite of that period.

In addition, the heinous manner in which he was liquidated, in exchange for the concealment for 7 decades of his murder, made the case of the murdered lawyer a mystery seeking to break the denial complex before the court of conscience and history.

Boumendjel was born on May 24, 1919 to an educated family, he studied at the College of Douvrier in the city of Blida (50 km south of the capital) to get acquainted at an early time with the People's Party militants who later became symbols of the Algerian revolution within the leadership of the National Liberation Front, such as Aban Ramadan and Ben Youssef Bin Khadda and Saad Dahlab.

He also accompanied the famous French lawyer Jacques Verges, after he directed his career towards law, and before that he worked as a journalist in the newspaper “Egalité” supervised by the supporters of the militant Ferhat Abbas, the first president of the interim government of Algeria.

March 23 is a national day celebrated by the Algerian lawyers, in honor of the spirit of the martyr Boumendjel (Al Jazeera Net)

Defending the revolution and the


outbreak of the revolution on November 1, 1954, Boumendjel became one of the most brilliant lawyers locally and internationally, who defended the Algerian revolutionaries, as he joined it in 1955, with his old friend Aban Ramadan after the latter left the colonial prison.


On February 9, 1957, the French occupation army arrested Boumendjel, the prosecutor, to be tortured for a whole month by General Paul Aussares and his aides.

On March 23 of the same year, he was thrown from the sixth floor of a building in the heart of the Algerian capital, at which time the occupation announced the fictitious suicide story, before the truth revealed itself after 34 years, with the notes of Aussaresses in 2000.

Therefore, since 2004, Algeria has celebrated the 23rd of March as a national day for lawyers, as it coincides with the anniversary of the liquidation of the lawyer and revolutionary fighter Boumendjel.

Algerian lawyers consider their annual celebration of this station as a tribute to all the national lawyers who rose during the revolution, and even paid with their lives for the freedom and independence of Algeria.

Lamine Belghith: Boumendjel was a strong defender of national and humanitarian causes (Al-Jazeera Net)

2,100 martyrs are missing

For his part, academic historian Lamine Belghith considered Boumendjel an influential Algerian figure within a generation of the educated youth of the revolution, such as Ahmed Boumendjel, Ahmed Francis, and Kaddour Sattour.

He confirmed in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that Boumendjel represents the new spirit that Ferhat Abbas relied on within the Algerian Democratic Union in his communication with the independence movement led by Masali Hajj.

And for the historical secretariat, Belghith adds, the work of the freedom fighter, politician and lawyer Boumengel has spread to everyone, as he is a strong defender of national and humanitarian causes.

He stressed that the case of Martyr Boumendjel is not a loss of his family's memory, as the French president speaks, but rather a great loss for every Algerian who feels belonging to Algeria.

Boumendjel, one of the most prominent lawyers who defended the Algerian revolutionaries (French)

On the other hand, the assassination of the martyr Boumendjel remains one of the many incidents of other assassinations, such as the killing of the prominent martyrs Al-Arabi Bin Mehidi and Al-Arabi Al-Tebsi.

The Ministry of the Mujahideen counted a list of 2,100 martyrs missing during the liberation revolution, as revealed by the Minister of the Mujahideen, Tayeb Zaitouni, in September 2018.

The government official revealed at the time that Algeria does not know where they were buried to this day.

Back off suicide

Macron admitted yesterday that the Algerian fighter, Boumendjel, had been "tortured and killed" by the colonial army during the National Liberation War, reversing the French narrative that he had committed suicide.

According to an official statement of the Elysee Palace, Boumendjel was arrested by the French army during the "Battle of Algiers" and hidden, then tortured and killed on March 23, 1957.

Macron's admission of France's responsibility for the assassination came, the source adds, based on what was stated in the memoirs of Osares, who previously admitted that he "ordered one of his subordinates to kill him and promoted the novel of suicide."

Macron received 4 of Boumingel's grandchildren and confirmed in front of them that he had tortured and killed (Anatolia)

Macron received at the Elysee Palace 4 grandchildren of the martyr Boumendel, then addressed them directly in the name of France, saying, "What Malika Boumendel (the widow of the Algerian militant) did not wish to hear: Ali Boumendjel did not commit suicide ... Yes, he was tortured and killed.

He then affirmed before them to continue collecting testimonies and encouraging the work of historians by opening the archive, which was launched many years ago, because "this gesture of recognition is not an isolated act, but will expand and deepen in the coming months," according to the statement.

Macron listed his new step towards memory with the Algerians as a desire to move forward towards appeasement and reconciliation, believing that recognition of the truth of the facts will not allow the closing of open wounds, but will help pave the way for the future, as he put it.

This progress by Macron in recognizing the crimes of colonialism is an implementation of the proposals of the French historian Benjamin Stora, who called on January 20 to reveal the truth about the disappeared who were assassinated during the Algerian revolution, and mentioned on their head Boumendjel.

In 2018, the current French president admitted the responsibility of the French state in 1957 for the killing of Maurice Audin, the fighter for Algeria's independence.