The Supreme Court Investigates 26 Corruption Scandals

The Supreme Court in Algiers opened 26 heavy corruption files, which have not yet been referred to the Court of First Instance, and which pursued high-level state officials including ministers, governors, and employees who were included in the “litigation concession” procedure under Article 573 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and those pursuing charges falling under the Anti-corruption and Prevention Law 06/01.

According to the copy -available to Echorouk-, the original list includes 27 corruption files, but after referring the file of the former Minister of Solidarity and Family, last week, the number of files under investigation by the investigating advisers becomes 26 files, as they will be referred gradually to the jurisdiction court.

Echorouk sources said that 99% of these cases will be referred to Algiers Sidi M’hamed’s Court of First Instance, starting next September.

The list included the number of files, the names of the ministers, governors, and employees covered by the status of the concession under Article 573 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, where some ministers’ names were repeated in many cases, similar to the former Prime Ministers Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sallal, whose names were mentioned almost in all open corruption files by the advisers who are investigating at the Supreme Court.

The open corruption files also included many names, such as Chakib Khalil, who is followed up on the case related to “SNC LAVALIN”, in which Chakib Khalil, the former Minister of Energy and Mines, and Boutarfa Noureddine, the former Energy Minister in his capacity as President General Manager of Sonelgaz, were charged with Wahid Tammar, former Minister of Contributions and Investment Promotion and Mohamed Benmerradi, former general manager of state property and former minister of commerce.

The former Minister of Industry, Djamila Tamazirt, is also pursued on the file of Korsou complex, the former Minister of Post and Information Technologies Houda Imane Faraoun on the issue of “Algeria Telecom”, and the former Minister of Culture who is currently in temporary detention due to corruption issues related to the period of its management of the sector.

Former Minister of Justice, Tayeb Louh, is also being followed by the investigative advisor to the Supreme Court in cases related to the impact on the course of justice, a file that dragged the advisor and brother of the former President, Said Bouteflika, who was charged with “inciting employees to bias in the judicial decisions”, Mohamed Ghazi, the former Minister of Labour, the former Minister of Tourism Abdelkader Benmasaoud, and the former Minister of Sports Mohamed Hattab and others officials as well.

Corruption files under investigation at the level of the Supreme Court also included a large number of ex-governors and state officials similar to the former governor of Algiers, Abdelkader Zoukh, Djamal Khanfar, governor of the al-Bayadh province, and Saif al-Islam, the governor of Saida province and many other governours of the republic besides the former president and former general manager of The General Corporation for Hotel Investments and the Director of State Residence who are under temporary imprisonment in cases of corruption related to the violation of the national economy and economic spying.