The Tahkout Family Case Before the Supreme Court on March 12

The Supreme Court will issue its ruling on March 12th on the appeal filed by members of the Tahkout family, who are being prosecuted for obstructing judicial investigations by concealing and misappropriating assets. The appeal was filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Algiers Court of Appeal, along with the defendants’ defence team.

Accordingly, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court will decide on the acceptance or rejection of the appeals submitted by the prosecution and the defence on the aforementioned date, according to information obtained by Echorouk newspaper. This follows the Criminal Chamber of the Algiers Court of Appeal, which issued sentences ranging from acquittal to eight years’ imprisonment for members of the Tahkout family and their co-defendants in the case.

In the details of the verdicts issued by the presiding judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Algiers Court of Appeal on March 23, the family of businessman Mahieddine Tahkout was sentenced to eight years in prison. The court reduced the sentences of Rachid, Ibrahim, and Hamid Tahkout from ten years to eight years.

The same court also sentenced Bilal Tahkout to five years in prison, Ali Tahkout to four years, and Youcef Tahkout to a three-year sentence. Nacer Tahkout and nine other defendants were acquitted. In contrast, the remaining defendants, including employees of the Rouiba municipality, received sentences ranging from 18 months to one year, three, four, and five years, as well as acquittals.

Furthermore, the judge issued a ruling to confiscate all seized assets, properties, and bank accounts mentioned in the seizure reports issued by the investigating judge.

These rulings came after the Tahkout family was tried before the Tenth Criminal Chamber of the Algiers Court of Appeal, with a new panel of judges, following the Supreme Court’s acceptance of their appeal on the grounds of “the interest of the law.” The defendants faced serious charges under Law 01/06 on Combating and Preventing Corruption, ranging from money laundering by concealing assets and proceeds obtained from corruption crimes, to obstructing the proper course of justice by giving false testimony in corruption cases and hindering ongoing investigations, as well as influencing and pressuring court-appointed administrators.

However, after the defendants appeared before the court last January, the head of the Tenth Criminal Chamber decided to conduct a complementary investigation by appointing an expert to go to the Mostaganem Customs (western Algeria) to obtain the basic files of the cars, to verify the date of disposal of the seized property by order of the judiciary, whether it was applied before or after the decision was issued.