Justice: “Serious Facts About Leak Of Information Regarding Purchase Of 15 New Aircraft”

The investigative judge at the Bir Mourad Rais Court in Algiers brought heavy charges, included in the Anti-Corruption and Prevention Law 01/06, to 4 executives in the Algerian Airline Company , two of them were placed in temporary detention, while a high-ranking official was placed under judicial supervision with the withdrawal of his passport, in a file leaking information on the son of a senior politician about a deal to buy 15 planes.
According to information in the possession of “Echorouk”, the investigative judge in the Court of Bir Mourad Rais heard in the matter the defendants who are pursued in the case file, and the matter is related to an official and executives in the Directorate and the Transactions Committee of Air Algerie, where they were accused of leaking the terms of reference for the acquisition of 15 aircraft, as it was announced by Air Algerie.
On its basis, the investigative judge modified the charges against the defendants, in accordance with the Anti-Corruption and Prevention Law 06/01, after confronting them with receiving benefits in exchange for leaking information about the deal.
It is expected that the investigative judge will refer the file, after hearing the matter to the defendants, to the scheduling section of the same judicial authority to program the trial, which is likely to take place in the next few days, which will reveal the details of leaking information regarding the book of conditions related to the purchase of aircraft.
On the other hand, on Wednesday 9 November, in implementation of the instructions of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, envelopes were opened for the acquisition of 15 new aircraft for the benefit of Air Algerie, to strengthen the air fleet of the national airline company.
Last September, the company launched international bids to purchase 15 new passenger planes, four months after the Cabinet approved the expansion of its fleet so as to open new routes.
The public company revealed that the bidding includes planes of three sizes, “5 planes of the 200A class, three planes of the 200B class, five of the 300 class and two planes of the 400 class”.
On May 8, the Council of Ministers approved “the licensing of Air Algerie to purchase 15 aircraft to open new routes, especially towards African and Asian countries.”
This comes in parallel with President Tebboune’s orders to the government and the will to find an urgent plan to upgrade the profitability of Air Algerie, as the company’s strategy in the medium term will be based on the renewal of the fleet, bolstering the capacity of the maintenance base, bringing into service the main center of the new air terminal for Algiers and digitizing the administrative and operational processes as well as composition of workers.