The Judiciary Pursues Its Fight Against Corruption Within Algerian Maritime Fleet

The judicial war against the systematic corruption that is destroying the Algerian maritime fleet is continuing, in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic, the country’s first magistrate, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, as the Economic and Financial Crimes Unit in Sidi M’hamed has begun to extend its investigations to all the branches of the National Maritime Transport Company, including the National Passenger sea Transport Company.
According to information obtained by “Echorouk”, the investigation opened by the economic and financial prosecutor’s office in Sidi M’hamed is in full swing and the investigating magistrates, in coordination with the chief prosecutor of the same judicial authority, are working day and night to unravel the threads of the “dirty game”, with the complicity of parties inside and outside the country. The aim is to destroy the naval fleet and obstruct the reforms for the sake of a new direction to revive this naval complex.
Specifically, at the level of the “Groupe GATMA” maritime transport complex, an expert belonging to the General Inspectorate of Finance has been appointed to carry out the investigation and the completion of the expert’s report at the level of this complex and all of its six branches, two of which are specialized in the transport of goods by sea, the first being the National Maritime Transport Company – North and the second the National Maritime Transport Company – Mediterranean North and the second, the National Maritime Transport Company – Mediterranean, as well as two other companies in the field of maritime services and another in the field of ship maintenance and shipbuilding.
On the other hand, according to our sources, the economic and financial pole has extended its investigations to the National Company for Maritime Transport of Passengers, which has also been subjected to many attempts to destroy it and make room for foreign ships, in order to control the maritime transport of passengers, which was revealed by the scandal of the return of the passenger ships “Borj Baji Mokhtar 3 and Tassili 2″, 3” and Tassili 2” from Marseille to Algeria are almost empty of international lines, on which the Judicial Council of Algiers will give its verdict on Sunday 21 May.
Investigations carried out by the Department of Internal Security on behalf of the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Sidi M’hamed Economic and Financial Crimes Unit in Algiers have uncovered disastrous corruption at the National Maritime Transport Company – North, which has cost the state billions of dinars, according to the investigators.
It was noted the exposure of the ships of the Algerian naval fleet, to neglect and wear and tear, due to the lack of maintenance and real interest, and their failure to meet some of the conditions of international navigation, which led them to stop activity permanently with the exposure of technical reservations and their docking in foreign ports, according to what is stipulated in international maritime law, which is considered a serious deviation.
These institutions, which allowed foreign shipping companies to control the food security of Algerians in terms of shipping under the control of foreign companies, due to the limited capacity of the National Shipping Company for Goods.
On 21 March, the investigating magistrate, of the Economic and Financial Penal Pole, ordered the temporary detention of the current general manager of the National Maritime Transport Company for Goods “North”, known as “J.L.”, and the former general managers of the company “A.S” and “G.S. P.” He also ordered that 14 other suspects be placed under judicial supervision in cases of corruption involving the “Luknan” company.
The defendants were charged with serious crimes related to the conclusion of deals and contracts in a manner that violated laws and regulations, abuses in the management of the company, and collusion to squander public funds by causing technical stoppages, not using the company’s cargo ships, stopping them at the level of domestic ports, and stopping other ships in foreign ports, thereby affecting the company’s activities and transactions.
The company and its financial situation deteriorated despite the financial support provided by the state, causing great financial damage to the company, the complex and the public treasury. A preliminary investigation has been opened.
The judiciary is acting in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic, on several occasions in the Council of Ministers and outside it, in order to rescue public companies from the claws of corruption and mismanagement that have squandered public funds, because cleansing the public institution of the corrupt is the only way to lift the public sector from the rubble of plunder and theft that have left companies with international capabilities faltering under the threat of bankruptcy and debt, while the strong political will of the President of the Republic insists on their reintegration into the wheel of the national economy, especially with the activation of the recovery plan after the end of the Corona virus pandemic, while the strong political will of the President of the Republic insists on their reintegration into the wheel of the national economy, especially with the activation of the recovery plan after the end of the Corona pandemic, and also to preserve the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Algerians.