Justice minister: I do not have any official information about Khelil arrest warrant

Algeria’s justice minister Mohamed Chorfi defended the appointment legitimacy of former speaker of the People’s National Assembly Amar Saidani as the FLN party’s new leader.

Chorfi said justice decision to authorize the sixth session of the FLN’s Central Committee was legal and made in “transparency.”

“The justice decision about the conflict related to the sixth session of the FLN’s Central Committee was made in transparency and was officially announced,” he added.

Speaking about the appeal of the FLN’s coordinator Abderrahmane Belayat, Chorfi said “everyone has the right to appeal.”

He called on concerned people to “review the decision well,” saying the decision was delivered in an official way.

The minister talked about the Sonatrach 2 corruption scandal and the international arrest warrant for Algeria’s former energy minister Chakib Khelil.

“Justice issues the arrest warrant but it can not implement the decision by itself. It is up to competent authorities to do that by the law,” he said.

Earlier, the Algiers Public Prosecutor Belkacem Zaghmati confirmed that the examining judge in charge of the Sonatrach 2 case issued an international arrest warrant for 9 people including Khelil, his wife, his two sons and Farid Bedjaoui.