Algeria Opens Trial Against Former Ministers of Industry, Investment on Corruption Charges

Former Minister for Privatization and Investment Promotion Abdelhamid Temmar. (Social media)
Former Minister for Privatization and Investment Promotion Abdelhamid Temmar. (Social media)
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Algeria Opens Trial Against Former Ministers of Industry, Investment on Corruption Charges

Former Minister for Privatization and Investment Promotion Abdelhamid Temmar. (Social media)
Former Minister for Privatization and Investment Promotion Abdelhamid Temmar. (Social media)

Two Algerian former ministers have gone on trial on serious corruption charges, according to lawyers.

The case involves former Minister of Industry Mohamed Benmeradi, former Minister for Privatization and Investment Promotion, Abdelhamid Temmar, and six other defendants.

Shortly after the start of their trial, Benmeradi’s lawyers requested to postpone the session until September 26, stating they required time to review the file more carefully and prepare the pleas.

The judge accepted their request, but he stressed that the trial “will take place next time, whatever the conditions.”

Benmeradi, 70, was placed in pretrial detention two years ago, while Temmar, 73, had left the country years ago after he stepped down from the government during the rule of late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika from 1999 to 2019.

A ruling was issued for his arrest. An international arrest warrant is expected to be issued against him after the Algerian court pronounces its final verdict.

Algerian laws prohibit the appointment of lawyers for defendants residing abroad, even if they are not fugitives.

Benmeradi, Temmar and the other defendants are accused of several misdemeanors, including granting privileges and credits, squandering public funds and exploiting their positions.

They are also accused of mismanagement of the “Public Corporation for Industrial Construction and Civil Engineering,” and of concluding illegal deals, with the aim of obtaining special privileges and benefits.

A judicial inquiry into the company's management reported that in the early 2000’s, attempts were made when Temmar was still in office to sell the Public Corporation for Industrial Construction and Civil Engineering “outside the legal framework” to a Belgian company specializing in construction and public works.

Al-Shorouk newspaper had previously described Temmar as “the architect who destroyed private institutions.”

Dozens of prominent civilian and military officials have been imprisoned by the authorities over corruption allegations.

They include former Prime Ministers Noureddine Bedoui, Ahmed Ouyahia, Abdelmalek Sellal and former chief presidential advisor, Said Bouteflika, the once-powerful brother of the former president, in addition to former intelligence chiefs, Generals Bachir Tartag and Wassini Bouazza, and dozens of high-ranking officers.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.