Algerian Court Sentences Two Figures of Former Regime to Prison

Algiers' court during the trial of senior officials including two former prime ministers (Reuters)
Algiers' court during the trial of senior officials including two former prime ministers (Reuters)
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Algerian Court Sentences Two Figures of Former Regime to Prison

Algiers' court during the trial of senior officials including two former prime ministers (Reuters)
Algiers' court during the trial of senior officials including two former prime ministers (Reuters)

A court in Algiers convicted two of the most prominent figures of the former regime and began the trial of a third, on major corruption charges, which previously led to the imprisonment of dozens of top civil and military officials to prison.

Sidi Mhamed Court of Algiers sentenced former Minister of National Solidarity Djamel Ould Abbes and MP Bahaa Eddine Tliba to eight years in prison for several cases relating to corruption and breaching of capital movement to and from abroad.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune made it a priority to recover public funds that were stolen and launched an initiative with French authorities to confiscate the funds of some officials in French banks.

Ould Abbas's younger son, Skandar, was also found guilty in the same case. The judge sentenced his eldest son, who resides abroad, to 20 years in prison and issued an international warrant for his arrest.

The case overlaps with another case, relating to misusing funds earmarked for the handicapped and groups classified as very poor, granted each year by the Ministry of Solidarity.

Security investigations revealed that Ould Abbas, along with his sons and the ministry’s former secretary-general Khalladi Bouchnak, had forged the documents of private projects, when he was a minister between 2003 and 2004.

The second case, which has stirred controversy, relates to Tliba’s accusation of offering bribes in exchange for placing him at the top of the list of National Liberation Front candidates during the 2017 parliamentary elections.

Tliba assured the judge that he refused to pay Skandar a large sum, as requested by his father to collect money from the candidates. Skandar said his father was acting on orders from Said Bouteflika, brother of the former President Abdulaziz Bouteflika.

According to Ould Abbas, Bouteflika asked candidates to pay bribes, denying all accusations attributed to him. Tliba denied that he had paid money for his candidacy.

Tliba paid huge sums campaigning for Bouteflika over the past 20 years, and Ould Abbas was among the most enthusiastic about his plan to seek a fifth term, which was toppled by the popular movement that broke out in February last year.

Meanwhile, the judiciary began the trial of the former Minister of Solidarity, Saeed Barakat, on charges relating to the management of his sector's funds.

The defendant said that his predecessor, Ould Abbas, left a legacy of mismanagement and tampering with treasury funds.

Barakat was loyal to the former president, and in return for his loyalty, Bouteflika named him among his bloc in the National Assembly, where dozens of unelected parliamentarians benefit from substantial financial concessions.

The trial of the Koninav brothers, four businessmen who were arrested on charges of illicit profiteering, began on Wednesday. The Koninav family had a special relationship with Bouteflika, which allowed them to win large projects in the country, and they offered great financial support for the president during his rule.



Sudan's RSF, Allies Sign Charter for Rival Government

The Sudan war has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's worst hunger and displacement crises - AFP
The Sudan war has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's worst hunger and displacement crises - AFP
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Sudan's RSF, Allies Sign Charter for Rival Government

The Sudan war has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's worst hunger and displacement crises - AFP
The Sudan war has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's worst hunger and displacement crises - AFP

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces and its allies have agreed to form a parallel government, they said Sunday, despite warnings such a move could further fragment the war-ravaged country.

"The charter has been signed," Najm al-Din Drisa, spokesman of the United Civil Forces, one of the signatories, told AFP.

The parties to the agreement, inked behind closed doors in Nairobi, said the charter establishes a "government of peace and unity" in rebel-controlled areas of the northeast African country.

The move comes nearly two years into a devastating war with the regular army that has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
Among those who agreed to it was a faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, which controls parts of the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states in the country's south.

Abdel Rahim Daglo, deputy and brother of RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo -- who was notably absent -- also signed.

The charter, seen by AFP, calls for "a secular, democratic, decentralized state based on freedom, equality, and justice, without bias toward any cultural, ethnic, religious, or regional identity".

It also outlines plans for a "new, unified, professional, national army" with a new military doctrine that "reflects the diversity and plurality characterizing the Sudanese state".

The proposed government aims to end the war, ensure unhindered humanitarian aid and integrate armed groups into a single, national force.

The war, originally triggered by disputes over integrating the RSF into the military, has killed tens of thousands, with both sides accused of atrocities.

Last month, the US determined the RSF had committed genocide in the western region of Darfur.

The conflict has torn the country in two, with the army controlling the north and east and the RSF holding nearly all of Darfur and swathes of the south.

The army is currently on the verge of recapturing the capital Khartoum, after surging through central Sudan and regaining territory this year.

In its alliance with the SPLM-N, the RSF side now controls more of the south and has border access to Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres warned the move could "increase the fragmentation of the country and risk making this crisis even worse".

But the charter's signatories denied any intentions to divide the country.

Alaa El-Din Nuqd, a signatory representing professional unions, said the proposed government would benefit people in RSF-held areas "who have been cut off from essential services".

Nuqd said the charter was a step toward "protecting the dignity" of war-hit civilians.

Analysts say the move is aimed at strengthening the RSF after their recent battlefield setbacks.

Sudanese political analyst Kholood Khair said the RSF's ultimate goals were to acquire an air force, facilitate humanitarian aid to areas under its control and secure a stronger negotiation position.

"They want to go into mediations as a government, not a militia," she told AFP.

However, any arms sales to the potential government would still be in violation of a Darfur embargo which the United Nations has recommended expanding to cover all of Sudan.