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Algeria: former Bouteflika protocol director jailed for corruption

2020-02-25T18:21:41.020Z



The former director of protocol of the Algerian presidency, who held this strategic post under the last three terms of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was indicted in a corruption case and imprisoned, a security source announced on Tuesday 25 February.

Career diplomat appointed in 2005, Mokhtar Reguieg was dismissed a few days after the resignation, on April 2, 2019, of Bouteflika, under pressure from an unprecedented popular protest movement ("Hirak"), born less than two months ago . He was placed in pre-trial detention late in the evening from Sunday to Monday after being heard by a magistrate in Algiers in a case of trafficking in subsidized food products, the source, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

Read also: In Algeria, the dialogue of the deaf between power and the street

The Algerian State is very present in the country's economy and devotes a large part of its budget to subsidies, among other things, many basic food products (flour, semolina, sugar, oil ...). According to the official press agency APS, four other people were also placed in pre-trial detention in this case, among which Hocine Metidji, powerful boss of the eponymous group, specialized in the production of agrifood products from cereals.

Read also: Algeria: 15 years in prison on appeal for Saïd Bouteflika and two accomplices

Hocine Metidji is the main accused in this case in which were also heard, according to local media, two former prime ministers of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal, sentenced to 15 and 12 years in prison respectively in another case file. corruption in December. Since Bouteflika's resignation, Algerian justice has, under the impetus of the military high command, pillar of the regime, launched a series of anti-corruption investigations targeting former senior political leaders and powerful businessmen close to Bouteflika.

Twenty former senior political officials, including former ministers, and a dozen wealthy bosses are currently incarcerated, some already sentenced to heavy sentences, others awaiting trial. The 20 years of Bouteflika's presidency have been marked by several corruption scandals and the enrichment of " oligarchs" benefiting from privileged links with the presidential entourage. Some observers nevertheless believe that these investigations meet the dual objective of offering "heads" , symbols of the Bouteflika years, to protest, while settling accounts within the entourage of the deposed president, within the framework of clan struggles. at the top of the regime, characterized by its opacity.

To see also - what challenges must Algeria face after Bouteflika?

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-02-25

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