Files Of Ouyahia, Sellal And 8 Former Ministers Conveyed To Supreme Court

The Prosecutor’s Office of the Court of Algiers announced on Sunday May 26th that it had conveyed corruption-related files of twelve former senior political officials. These are former Prime Ministers Abelmalek Sellal and Ahmed Ouyahia, former Ministers Abdelghani Zaalane, Amar Tou, Boudjemaa Talai, Karim Djoudi, Amara Beyounes, Amar Ghoul, Abdelkader Bouazghi and Abdeslam Bouchouareb, ex-wali or governor Abdelkader Zoukh, and the current wali or governor of El Bayadh province Mohamed Djamel Khenfar.

The twelve political figures are being prosecuted in the context of “preliminary investigations carried out by the national Gendarmerie into criminal offences”, according to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Court of Algiers in a statement signed by the new Prosecutor Mr. Belkacem Zeghmati.

These personalities are being prosecuted “for acts punished by the law on the conclusion of public contracts and contracts contrary to the regulations and laws in force”, says the Supreme Court, which confirms that it “received, on Sunday 26 May, from the Prosecutor General of the Algiers Court, the file of proceedings relating to the proceedings against a group of former members of the Government”.

“The Supreme Court will initiate legal proceedings against these people,” says the Supreme Court’s Attorney General’s Office.

The conveyance of the relevant case to the Supreme Court is part of the process provided for by law to enable the judiciary to charge a senior official (Prime Minister, Minister and Wali or Governor in this case) for acts committed during his term of office.
What the legal procedure provides for:
The legal process in question is provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedures, which stipulates in article 573 that “when a member of the Government, a magistrate of the Supreme Court, a wali, a president of the court or an attorney general of a court, is liable to be charged with a crime or misdemeanor committed in the course of or in connection with the performance of his or her duties, the public prosecutor hearing the case shall convey the relevant file, through hierarchical channels, to the public prosecutor at the Supreme Court, who shall designate a member of the Supreme Court for the purpose of conducting an investigation”.
The Supreme Court judge thus appointed must then conduct an investigation which must result either in an order dismissing the case or in the transmission of the file under the conditions provided for in article 574 of the Code of Criminal Procedures.
This specific article provides that in the case of an offence, the accused person must be “referred to the competent court, with the exception of those within whose jurisdiction the accused person was carrying out his or her duties”.
In the case of a crime, the law provides that the case is to be referred “to the Attorney General of the Supreme Court, who shall refer the case to the Supreme Court panel referred to in paragraph 1 for finalization of the information.
The latter may either dismiss the case or refer the accused to the competent court, with the exception of the court within whose jurisdiction the accused was carrying out his or her duties.