The CEO of Algeria's leading private media group Ennahar, Anis Rahmani, was sentenced on Monday (June 13th) by an Algiers court to ten years in prison for corruption.
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Real name Mohamed Mokaddem, Anis Rahmani, 50, was already serving a three-year prison sentence in another case.
He will now only serve the new, heavier sentence, since prison sentences in Algeria are not cumulative.
Anis Rahmani was prosecuted by the court of Sidi Mhamed in Algiers for "
misuse of funds from Sarl El-Athir Presse (under the Ennahar group)
", "
breach of foreign exchange regulations
", "
traffic of influence for the obtaining undue advantages
" and "
false declaration
", according to the official agency APS.
In addition, El-Athir Presse was sentenced to a fine of 32 million dinars (nearly 209,000 euros) with payment of compensation of 10 million dinars (more than 65,000 euros) for the benefit of the Public Treasury.
Already sentenced for illegal recording
In March 2021, Anis Rahmani, was sentenced on appeal in another case to three years in prison for having illegally recorded and broadcast in October 2018 a telephone communication he had had with an intelligence colonel.
On October 15, 2020, the CEO of Ennahar had already been sentenced to six months in prison for defamation in another case which opposed him to the director of the Arabic-language magazine Echourouk El-Arabi, Yassine Fodil.
Considered a journalist specializing in security issues, he has been the target of other defamation complaints, according to Algerian media.
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Launched in 2012, Ennahar TV, a continuous news channel, prides itself on being "
the first news channel in Algeria
".
But it has been criticized for being a weapon against opponents of the "
system
" of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was forced to resign in 2019 under pressure from the army and Hirak, a protest movement.
During the campaign for the presidential election in December 2019, the channel attacked candidate Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who had become president.
