The two men named above were sentenced on 10 September 1993 to three years’ imprisonment. There is concern that their conviction may be based solely on “confessions” extracted under torture. They were arrested around 26 July 1993 and taken to the headquarters of the paramilitary police, the Gendarmerie nationale, where they were allegedly tortured. They later appeared on national television, where they confessed that they had been responsible for recent bomb attacks. Their lawyers called for their trial before the Tribunal des flagrants delits to be called off, but their request was rejected. A demand for evidence from a forensic doctor about their physical state was also refused.
