CCPR/C/116/D/2297/2013 issues had already been raised before the Indictments Chamber and examined on 16 November 2011. 2.12 On 3 November 2011, with the assistance of counsel, the author lodged a complaint with the Chief Prosecutor at the Court of Algiers claiming that he had been arbitrarily detained and tortured and that his confession had been obtained under duress. On 13 November 2011, the public prosecutor at Sidi M’hamed Court notified the author’s lawyers that no further action would be taken on the complaint. This decision was made only 10 days after the complaint had been lodged, without the author’s testimony having been taken or any investigation conducted and without the prosecutor having transmitted the complaint to the criminal investigation department for follow-up. Although article 36 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that such a decision can always be revoked, so that a remedy is available in theory for any complainant, in practice it is highly unlikely that the decision taken in respect of the author’s complaint will be reconsidered. The author’s lawyers have nevertheless challenged the decision and contested the admissibility of his confession, obtained under duress, at every stage of the proceedings following the lodging of the complaint with the Chief Prosecutor. They have also raised the issue of the torture to which the author was subjected and challenged the decision taken in respect of his complaint during all the hearings in the East-West Highway affair. These claims have not, however, been referred to in the official judicial decisions. Nor has any investigation ever been carried out into the torture inflicted on the author during the 20 days for which he was held in police custody in connection with this case. 2.13 In 2011, while the author was still being detained pending trial in the aforementioned case, the Algerian judicial authorities initiated proceedings against him for corruption, using improper influence and money-laundering in a second case, the so-called Algérie Télécom or Natixis-Luxembourg affair. On 6 June 2012, the author was convicted in this case and sentenced by the criminal division of Sidi M’hamed Court to 18 years in prison and a fine of 5 million dinars for money-laundering. On 11 December 2012, the Algiers Court of Appeal reviewed the author’s penalty, sentencing him to 15 years in prison and a fine of 4 million dinars for money-laundering. On 17 December 2012, the author filed an appeal in cassation with the Supreme Court. 5 2.14 On 12 October 2012, the author lodged a complaint of torture against persons unknown with the State Prosecutor of Luxembourg pursuant to article 7-3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which establishes universal jurisdiction for Luxembourg courts when any foreign national outside the territory of the Grand Duchy is guilty of torturing a Luxembourg national or resident of Luxembourg. The Luxembourg prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary investigation, which recently took testimony from relatives of the victim. The author harbours doubts, however, as to the efficacy of this procedure, given that it requires Algeria to cooperate. 2.15 Regarding the exhaustion of domestic remedies, the author emphasizes that he has repeatedly denounced to the prosecutor’s office the procedural irregularities in his case and the torture he suffered, in vain. He notes that there are thus no effective remedies available to him, adding that numerous non-governmental sources agree that the Algerian courts offer no guarantees of equitable justice, and are unanimous in denouncing the use of arbitrary detention and the practice of torture by the Algerian intelligence service. 5 4 When the communication was considered by the Committee, the Supreme Court, in January 2015, had overturned the judgment of the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the law had been applied retroactively and that the offences in question were in fact statute-barred. The case was referred back to the Court of Appeal, which, on 22 October 2015, upheld the author’s conviction but reduced his sentence to 12 years. GE.16-07656