Belaïz: “Late Wali of Annaba didn’t resign and wasn’t subjected to any pressure”

The state Minister, of the Interior and local assembliesTayeb Belaïz, said Wednesday, December 31, that the “comments that circulate on alleged pressures and constraints which would have been at the origin of the death of the Wali or Governor of Annaba, Mohamed Mounib Sendid were “groundless rumours.”

In a statement to the press at the end of the commissioning by his Ministerial Department of a brand-new call centre in Algiers geared for citizens’ queries,Tayeb Belaiz assured that “the deceased had  never complained to the Ministry about any constraints, pressure or abuse of authority.

“All comments peddled about his death are just baseless rumours,” insisted the Minister who questioned “the reasons of such behaviour”. 

“All officials and other sources agree on the total lack of evidence that the deceased was the subject of pressures or constraints whatsoever”, said Tayeb Belaiz before announcing: “the family of the deceased which corroborates what I say, will respond swiftly to denounce such vile rumors.

The Minister of the Interior also flatly denied the fact that the late Wali of Annaba had submitted his resignation three times as alleged by some ill-informed circles.

‘I will not tolerate any pressure by anyone on officials of the State at the level of the wilayas or provinces’, he stressed.

TheState “does not base its policies or its decisions on empty talk from the street”, he hammered.

Several leaders of political parties had earlier spoken out and demanded an investigation into the death of the Wali orGovernor of Annaba who passed away after a stroke.