Bedoui: “Instigators of traders’ illegal strike and those involved in riots will be prosecuted”

The Minister of the Interior and Local Assemblies Nouredine Bedoui said Tuesday, in Guelma, that “all those who will attempt to destroy public and private property will be prosecuted by the institutions of the Republic”.

When asked by journalists about the famaging riots and pillaging that jolted Monday the eastern provinces of Bejaia and Bouira and some municipalities of Algiers, the minister said that “the Algerian State, with its institutions, laws and justice, is fully mobilized to preserve and safeguard public and private property”.

The Interior minister paid on Tuesday, a working and inspection visit to Guelma province during which he inspected and inaugurated several tourism, social and youth projects.

Mr Nouredine Bedoui, stressed on the occasion that “affirming itself through the use of blameworthy violence and the wanton closure of businesses is “synonymous with an utter lack of public spiritedness”.

“Asserting, most often, the use of violence and imposing the closure of businesses is a law-breaking act,” Mr Bedoui told the press on the sidelines of a working visit and inspection to the province of Guelma.

“The Algerian state draws its strength also from the deep maturity of its citizens and their understanding of the necessary preservation of the country’s assets and gains,” he underscored.

Taking the floor at a press briefing held at the pilot farm of “Abdelmadjid Richi” in the municipality of Belkheir Bouchegouf, the Interior minister recalled that “the Algerian State, under the instructions of the President of the Republic, Mr Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is the first to worry about the evolution of the citizens’ purchasing power”, while refuting the idea “of calling into question the significant social gains included in the 2017 Law of Finance”.

“The State has allocated over $ 10 billion dollars under the Finance law 2017 to maintain subsidies for the benefit of its citizens,” Mr Bedoui argued, adding that “the Algerian government, on clear-cut instructions from the President of the Republic, will not give up shouldering responsibility for the fulfillment of the social needs of citizens, particularly in education, housing and health matters”.