Sonatrach 2 scandal:Defendants in the case to be summoned by the end of October

Informed sources told Echorouk that the investigating judge at Sidi M’hamed Penal Court in Algiers will hear the defendants later this month in the case of Sonatrach 02, at the time the investigation is still ongoing at a slow pace and expertise has not yet finished the real evaluation of the damage that was done to the company Sonatrach.

So far, neither a list of defendants in the file, nor people concerned with the orders of arrest has been identified, as the case is shrouded in mystery, especially those related to the international arrest warrant against the former Energy Minister Chakib Khelil, his wife and two sons, because INTERPOL has not yet been notified, and the case is still vague.

Arrested defendants in the case, who are namely “R.CH”, Deputy Director in charge of commercial activities, and the accused “M.N”, who is a Manager of the Office of Studies “CAD” in the second phase of the provisional custody, after imprisonment has been renewed against them for another four months, by the investigative judge early on last August.

In terms of the law, the investigating judge, because the charges against the defendants are misdemeanor, so the case should be refered to trial early on last December, because it has the right to renew the temporary detention once, but -according to Echorouk sources-, until now investigation does not show any developments, while the Code of Criminal Procedures does not authorize the investigating judge to renew the temporary detention  in misdemeanors more than once, and in this context, the defense lawyers in the case fear the case would take the first case’s course, that has been put out, by transmitting it to the Supreme Court, without specifying a date for deciding in the cassation appeal, and the case of “Sonatrach 02” remains ambiguous, especially in the absence of Chakib Khelil, and his mysterious disappearance since his response to the arrest warrant that was issued against him on last August.

Echorouk sources explained that an investigation in the case of “Sonatrach 2” in Algeria remains stalled, and new actors in the case have not yet been summoned, but hearing the same people in the case.

Italian judicial authorities are likely to conduct a trial for those involved in bribery and corruption file in the giant company “Eni”, and director of its branch in Algeria “Saipem”, after the investigations nearly finish, while the investigation in Algeria is still in its first phase.