Justice: Ouyahia, Sellal And 8 Former Ministers May Face 20 Years’ Prison Sentence

Twelve former senior state officials including former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia and his predecessor Abdelmalek Sellal, with eight former ministers and two walis or governors, may face 20 years in prison for corruption offenses, making the judge enforce the “stress conditions” procedure, by referring them to Specialized courts outside the residence of the accused.

“According to Article 573 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 12 senior officials, including 10 ministers, are to face legal procedures,” the president of the National Union of Magistrates, Mabrouk Issaad told Echorouk on Monday.

“The Council of the District Judiciary referred the files of the suspects to the Attorney General in the Supreme Court, which in turn referred them to the first President of the same court, which appoints an investigative adviser who, performs the same role as the examining magistrate”, he indicated.

In the details of the proceedings, the judge explained the existence of two hypotheses at the conclusion of the investigation carried out by the investigating advisor, in the case of proven charges against those concerned with proven evidence.

If the case is to be adapted on the basis of misdemeanor, the file is referred to a competent court, outside the residence of the accused.

If the case is a felony, the investigating counsel resubmit the file to the Attorney General of the Supreme Court, who in turn assigns it to the indictment chamber established for that purpose within the same Court.

As for the penalties hanging on the defendants, Mabrouk Issaad said that in view of the charges weighing against them in relation to the conclusion of illicit transactions and contracts contrary to the regulations and the legislation in force, which are classified as corruption, they will be followed in accordance with Law 06-01 of 20 February 2006 on the prevention of Corruption, and it is possible that the judge will sign a 10-year sentence in ordinary persons, but in the case of officials in the follow-up to ministers and governors, they will be subject to the conditions of emphasis by virtue of their jobs and positions, with a possible jail sentence of up to 20 years.

On the other hand, the lawyer and the former head of the National Committee for the Promotion of Human Rights, Farouk Ksentini, said that the Supreme Court’s adviser can issue a deposit order in case the charges are proved by evidence against the 12 accused, and that the trial will not be staged in the jurisdiction of the suspects.

For his part, lawyer Abdelghani Badi believes that the file on the suspects, which was turned over to the court of first instance, is certainly not empty, and that the charges against the accused relating to the conclusion of transactions and contracts contrary to the organization and the legislation in force are involved in crimes of corruption punishable by virtue of law n°06.

Thereby, he added, this will expose the parties concerned to penalties of up to 20 years in prison because of their positions and functions during the committing of the said crimes, especially as their primary task was to protect public funds and to ensure that they are not exploited for personal gains or any other illicit purpose.
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.
As a recall, 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.