By the summer of 1959 all was havoc, its leader, Si M’hamed, having been encouraged—partly by the example of Amirouche, partly as a result of assiduous “moling” by Léger’s teams—to carry out a murderous purge of the numerous young students and intellectuals who had joined the Wilaya on fleeing from the Battle of Algiers. The “capital” crimes of which they were found guilty often amounted to little more than asking questions, or revealing an “incorrect revolutionary stance”.

DEFINE: This illustrate how vague ideological infractions served as capital crimes during the 1959 Wilaya purges.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 981