Two Algerian ex-prime ministers have been arraigned and sentenced to jail for lavishing public funds.
An Algerian court has convicted two former Algerian prime ministers and other senior officials in a corruption case.
Ahmed Ouyahia was sentenced to 15 years and Abdelmalek Sellal to 12
years in prison on charges of squandering public funds and abusing
authority in a case related to car assembly plants.
Both premiers served under longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who
was forced to step down in April in the wake of nationwide protests and
pressure from the country’s powerful military.
The Sidi M’hamed Court in the capital Algiers also sentenced former
industry minister Abdeslam Bouchouareb, who is on the run, to 20 years
in prison in absentia.
Two former industry ministers, Youcef Yousfi and Mahdjoub Bedda, were handed 10 years in prison each in the same case.
A former governor of Boumerdes Province was sentenced to five years in
prison, while eight businessmen were handed jail terms ranging between
two to seven years.
Former transport and public works minister Abdelghani Zaalane was acquitted.
The verdicts can be appealed.
Bouteflika, now aged 82, ruled energy-rich Algeria for two decades, an era that was dominated by cronyism and mismanagement.
The verdicts come ahead of a presidential election on Thursday, which
demonstrators say will not be fair because some of Bouteflika’s allies
are still in power. The army has said the vote will be fair and is the
only way out of the crisis.
Abboud noted the verdicts and sentences were announced just before the vote.
“It’s about how the same system that created these judges who are
pronouncing these sentences is the same system that created how these
ministers were holding power allegedly and misusing public funds
allegedly,” he said.
The court in Algiers also handed 10-year prison terms to two former
industry ministers, and sentences ranging from three to seven years to
five prominent businessmen.
Many former senior officials have been in detention as the army seeks to
quell mass protests over corruption and demands to remove those guilty
in the ruling elite.
In all, 19 defendants – two former prime ministers, other prominent
former politicians and car industry tycoons – face charges ranging from
money laundering to abuse of office and granting undue privileges.
The proceedings have been dominated by accusations of illegal funding during Bouteflika’s last election campaign this year.
The prosecutor on Sunday said the campaign had caused a loss to the public treasury estimated at $920m.
Ouyahia and Sellal, and the other main defendants, denied the accusations against them.
Sellal broke down on Sunday, swearing he had “not betrayed the country.”
Among the businessmen jailed was Ali Haddad, a former chief of Algeria’s
largest business association, who was imprisoned for seven years.
Former transport minister Abdelghani Zaalane was the only defendant acquitted.
The court also issued a 20-year prison sentence in absentia to former
industry minister Abdesslam Bouchouareb, who is abroad. An international
arrest warrant has been issued by the same court.
Source: (dpa/NAN)
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