A former Algerian energy minister was sentenced in absentia Thursday to 20 years in prison for corruption.
Chakib Khelil headed the energy ministry for a decade under the late president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The Sidi M’Hamed court in Algiers also issued on Thursday prison terms of between five and 10 years to former senior officials including ex-ministers Amar Ghoul and Mohamed Bedjaoui, along with two former heads of state energy firm Sonatrach, Noureddine Bouterfa and Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour.
All of the accused were found guilty of “squandering public funds when concluding contracts with foreign companies.”
The court also confirmed an international arrest warrant against Khelil.
In 2013, the North African country issued an international arrest warrant for Khelil over a case involving receiving commissions from a subsidiary of Eni in return for signing contracts with it to work in Algeria.
He returned to Algeria in 2016 after the charges were dropped, only to flee again after Bouteflika’s 2019 resignation under the pressure of the army and protests.
Khelil fled to the US, then in 2013, an international order to arrest him was issued.
Yet, he was acquitted of charges of receiving bribes from Eni in return for Algerian contracts.
Khelil returned to Algeria after canceling the arrest warrant, but the Supreme Court of Algeria reopened the corruption case, so he left Algeria again.
An Algerian court also issued a six-year prison sentence in the case of the former chief executive officer of the National Company for Passenger Sea Transport, Kamel Issad, over corruption charges that he faced upon his dismissal in June, according to Algeria Press Service.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune sacked Issad on June 2 for allegedly harming people’s interests and distorting the image of Algeria.
A ship - almost empty - departed from Marseille to Algiers despite heavy pressure on flights to Algiers at the beginning of the summer. This caused a scandal.
The commercial director of the National Company for Passenger Sea Transport, Karim Bouznad, was also handed a five-year jail term and a €6,700 fine was imposed on him.
