The Algerian Supreme Court on Sunday ordered the detention of Djamel Ould Abbes, a senator close to former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on accusations of corruption. He has been accused of alleged wrongdoing when he was government minister during Bouteflika’s first term, 1999-2004.
According to the state television, AFP said Abbes is suspected of “squandering public funds, procuring a contract in violation of… regulations, abuse of office and forgery of public documents.” As per reports, the ex-chief of the National Liberation Front (FLN) was placed in preventative detention by the Supreme Court’s investigating magistrate.
Abbes is the latest of several high-profile figures linked to Bouteflika who has been questioned or arrested in an anti-corruption sweep since the ailing president was pushed out of office in the face of mass protests in early April backed by Algeria’s army chief.
On Saturday, the protestors and opposition parties called for elections to take place in six months. They are demanding the establishment of an independent body to oversee the polls. Several groups took part in a National Forum for Dialogue meeting on Saturday which was chaired by former minister Abdelaziz Rahabi. The group proposed there should be free and pluralistic elections in the country in the next six months.
Thousands of people also took to the streets of the capital Algiers on Friday, the latest in weeks of rallies against the ruling class amid an ongoing political crisis in the country. They are demanding the removal of Algeria’s interim president, Abdelkader Bensalah, Prime Minister Nouredine Bedoui, both seen as close allies of Bouteflika, and military chief Ahmed Gaid Salah.
In related news, the Algerian police on Sunday said they had begun an investigation after a video circulated online appeared to show security forces beating protesters. The video in question shows two men on the ground being beaten by police officers with batons.
