عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Algerian Judiciary Jails Two Ex-Ministers on Corruption Charges

Former Algerian Finance Minister Mohamed Loukal (Finance Ministry)
Former Algerian Finance Minister Mohamed Loukal (Finance Ministry)
TT
TT

Algerian Judiciary Jails Two Ex-Ministers on Corruption Charges

Former Algerian Finance Minister Mohamed Loukal (Finance Ministry)
Former Algerian Finance Minister Mohamed Loukal (Finance Ministry)

A court in Algiers sentenced on Wednesday two former ministers to jail on corruption charges.

Sidi M'hamed Court of Algiers sentenced former Minister of Finance Mohamed Loukal to six years in prison and a fine in Algerian dinar and ordered lifting seizure on all his seized assets upon the examining magistrate’s order.

The court sentenced in absentia the fugitive, A.A., to 10 years in prison and a fine. It issued a warrant for his arrest and ordered seizing all his assets.

On August 3, the court’s public prosecutor ordered sentencing Loukal to 10 years in prison and a three million dinar fine, as well as seizing all his assets and bank accounts.

The verdicts issued against other convicts ranged between five and 10-year prison sentences and the seizure of all their assets, the local daily Echorouk reported.

The case was opened on December 2, 2018 when a letter signed on behalf of the managers of the Property Directorate at the General Directorate of the Exterior Bank of Algeria (BEA) addressed the anti-corruption judicial police.

The letter stated that Loukal received 30 billion centimes of bribery, in complicity with a number of the bank’s executives.

The court also charged Loukal of exploiting his position, squandering public funds, and concluding a deal in violation of legislative and regulatory provisions to grant unjustified privileges to others.

He was further accused of illegally acquiring interests from contracts signed by institutions, abuse of power, conflict of interest, as well as money laundering by transferring or concealing property or disguising its illegal source.

All these are among the acts stipulated and punished by the provisions of the anti-corruption law.

The same court also sentenced former minister of Solidarity Djamel Ould Abbes to three years in prison, with a fine of one million dinars and seizing all his assets.

He was acquitted of the misdemeanor of exploiting his position and was ordered to pay two million dinars to the public treasury and the Ministry of Solidarity.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
TT
TT

Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.