By RFIPosted on 02-12-2019Modified on 02-12-2019 at 13:39

Several major figures of the Bouteflika era were to be judged from Monday, December 2 before the court in Algiers. But this first trial says "dirty money" has been postponed until December 4. Among the defendants are two former prime ministers Abdelmalek Sellal and Ahmed Ouyahia as well as former ministers of industry and a former minister of public works. We are heading towards an extraordinary trial.

More than forty people could be heard in this first big trial of dirty money in Algeria. Several former ministers of Industry and a former Minister of Public Works and Transport will march to the bar, but also two former prime ministers: Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal. They are suspected of being involved in several corruption cases and the list of charges is long.

Former political leaders are implicated in several cases, accused among others of having squandered public money. They will also have to answer for abuses of function or violation of the legislation with a view to granting undue privileges to others.

Several former bosses, former close friends of Abdlelaziz Bouteflika , are also expected at the helm. In particular, they are accused of having enriched themselves with import and automobile assembly in Algeria or of having participated in the occult financing of political parties. The hearings are public, open to citizens, but will not be broadcast live on television as originally planned.

This extraordinary trial raises some criticisms in Algeria. Some representatives of civil society, engaged in the fight against corruption, regret that this trial is part of a contested electoral calendar and fear an instrumentalization of justice, to serve the interests of one clan over another.

The penalties incurred in this trial could go beyond twenty years of imprisonment.

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