Swiss federal prosecutors say they've indicted a former Algerian defense minister for his alleged role in crimes against humanity during the insurrection in the North African country some three decades ago.
He is reportedly in Algeria and ailing, meaning that any trial would likely be conducted in absentia.
It marks a rare instance where Swiss prosecutors have taken action under universal jurisdiction, a legal principle that allows for prosecution of the most heinous crimes in a country that may not itself have been where the crimes took place. The Swiss attorney general’s office dropped the case in 2017 on the grounds that the insurrection was an internal conflict, before the Federal Criminal Court ruled that the conflict was violent enough to qualify as an “armed conflict” under international law.
Last week, Trial International wrote that “information recently made public” indicated that “Nezzar is on his deathbed” — raising the prospect that he might die without being brought to justice.
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