The special court of Sidi M’hamed in Algiers on Thursday pronounced prison sentences against three former ministers of public works for their involvement in corruption cases. They are Ammar Ghoul and Abdelkader Kadi sentenced to four years in prison with a fine of 200,000 Algerian dinars as well as Abdelkader Ouali who was sentenced to 3 years.
The economic and financial penal division of the Sidi M’hamed court also sentenced the businessman Ali Haddad to a four-year prison term accompanied by a fine of 200,000 DA. They were accused of squandering public funds, corruption and granting undue benefits in a case related to the construction of a penetrating East-West highway linking it to the wilaya of Ain Defla.
A judgment on the confiscation of all land and movable property and seizure of bank accounts by order of the investigating judge of the economic and financial penal division was pronounced against these former convicted officials, with payment of compensation of 100,000 dinars each for the benefit of the public treasury.
The prosecution had requested a 10-year prison sentence against Ali Haddad, Ammar Ghoul, Abdelkader Ouali and Abdelkader Kadi, together with a fine of one million dinars each.
The vast investigations into corruption and nepotism launched after the resignation in April 2019 of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, under pressure from an unprecedented popular protest movement “Hirak”, have led to a series of trials that are still ongoing.
Several personalities and former political leaders, as well as powerful bosses, senior civil servants and senior army officers are tried in the context of these trials. They are prosecuted, in particular, for corruption and illicit enrichment.