An Algerian court on Tuesday sentenced two former prime ministers to long jail terms over corruption charges, reported BBC.
The court sentenced Ahmed Ouyahia to 15 years of prison and Abdelmalek Sellal to 12 years. Both were accused of abusing authority in a car manufacturing embezzlement scandal. It was the first time that ex-prime ministers were put on trial since Algeria’s independence from France in 1962. The two had worked under former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was forced to resign amid mass protests in April. The state prosecutor had sought 20-year prison sentences for them.
In total, 19 defendants were tried on a number of charges including money laundering, abuse of office and granting undue privileges in the vehicle assembly industry.
Algeria’s automotive sector got a boost in 2014 when large Algerian corporations, almost all owned by businessmen linked to Bouteflika’s entourage, worked in partnership with foreign groups.
Former industry minister, Abdeslam Bouchouareb, who is on the run abroad, was sentenced in absentia to 20 years. Two other former industry ministers, Mahdjoub Bedda and Youcef Yousfi, were also handed 10-years of prison sentence.
Businessman Ali Haddad, founder and CEO of private construction firm ETRHB and former head of Algeria’s main employers’ organization, was sentenced to seven years. Ahmed Mazouz, Hassen Arbaoui, and Mohamed Bairi, three businessmen who own vehicle assembly plants, were sentenced to seven years, six years and three years respectively.
The decision comes ahead of the controversial December 12 presidential polls the first since Mr. Boueflika was forced out of office. The election is being opposed by the country’s nine-month-old protest movement. The protesters claim the election is a regime ploy to cling to power.
The five candidates running for the presidential election are former prime ministers Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Ali Benflis, former culture minister Azzedddine Mihoubi, former tourism minister Abdelkader Bengrine, and Abdelaziz Belaid, head of the El Mostakbal Movement party.
