Senior Politician’s Son Accused of Undermining State Security

The son of a senior politician and former high-ranking official in the state is facing a heavy charge related to harming state security, in a corruption file involving Air Algérie company, in addition to several other charges brought against him by the Dean of the Investigative Judges at the Algiers’ Bir Mourad Rais Court, who will refer the file to the Scheduling Department to program the trial soon.

Details in the possession of Echorouk show that the main suspect in the case is the son of a prominent politician in Algeria, who had made, during the investigation stages at the judicial police or the first hearing report with the investigating judge, serious statements that affected the security of the state, but he retracted his statements during the hearing on the matter, and out of respect for the confidentiality of the investigation more details can’t be revealed.

The case relates to the leaking of the specifications related to the purchase of 15 planes by the son of a senior politician who is the main suspect in the file, who is in the penal institution, through a flight attendant who is also in temporary detention, after she mediated for him with the deputy director of deals at Air Algérie called “B”, detained in the case in the Koléa prison, in exchange for helping her settle her residence in Canada so that the so-called “B” leaked the deal’s specifications.

According to Echorouk’s sources, the dean of the investigative judges at the first chamber of the Bir Mourad Rais Court conducted, on January 17, a confrontation between the main suspect and the deputy director of deals at Air Algérie, “B”, provided that the file of last February be referred to the department. However, the flight attendant, who was detained in the penal institution in Kolea, filed a request for her release with the investigating judge, who rejected it. She appealed to the indictment chamber of the Algiers Judicial Council, which has not yet decided on the request.

Last September, Air Algérie launched a solicitation of international bids to purchase 15 new passenger aircraft, four months after the Council of Ministers approved the expansion of its fleet to open new flights.

The state company revealed that the solicitation of offers that includes aircraft of three sizes, which are five aircraft of the category “A200”, three aircraft of the category “B200”, five aircraft of the category “300” and two aircraft of the category “400”.

On May 8, 2022, the Council of Ministers approved “a license for Air Algérie to purchase 15 aircraft to open new flights, especially to African and Asian countries.”

This comes in parallel with President Tebboune’s orders to the government and the Ministry of Transports to find an urgent plan to improve the profitability of Air Algérie, as the company’s strategy in the medium term will focus on renewing the fleet, strengthening the capacity of the maintenance base, bringing into service the main centre of the new air terminal of Algiers, and digitizing the administrative and operational processes as well as workers’ training.