The public prosecutor at the Court of Justice in Mostaganem, Algeria, announced an incident where an investigating judge was shot inside his office. In a statement, he said, "On July 30, 2023, around three in the afternoon, while the investigating judge at the Mostaganem Court was conducting hearings with the defendant 'D. Lakhdar,' a former court registrar being prosecuted for abuse of office and impersonation, the latter fired a gunshot at the investigating judge." As a result, the investigating judge was injured in the abdomen, and following the intervention of the investigating chamber’s registrar and a gendarme to apprehend the assailant and disarm him, there was resistance that led to injuries on the suspect’s head.
The newspaper "An-Nahar" reported that "the injured were immediately transferred to the hospital, where the investigating judge underwent successful surgery and his health condition is stable, while the assailant received first aid and is under medical supervision." Following this incident, the Minister of Justice visited the Mostaganem Hospital to check on the health status of the injured judge and ordered an initial investigation into the circumstances that allowed the assailant to enter the judge’s office with a firearm and whether the lack of usual security measures was related to his former position. The minister also confirmed that "all legal disciplinary and criminal measures will be taken against anyone found responsible for this unfortunate incident."
