Rabat – Today, July 29, the Algerian Supreme Court’s Advisor issued an order to keep the former Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal in temporary detention.
Sellal is to be detained following the investigation into businessman Mazouz Ahmed, former Director-General of the Public Establishment “SAHEL.”
A statement issued by the Attorney General says that “the court took a deposition from former Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal, charged of 7 offenses, in the case of Mazouz Ahmed.”
The court ordered his detention after the former Prime Minister was interrogated as part of the investigation.
According to the statement, the charges include granting undue advantages through unlawful transactions, the deliberate misuse of power, conflicts of interest.
Further charges include bribery in public transactions, deliberate squandering and misappropriation of public funds, money laundering, and the secret funding of Bouteflika’s election campaign.
Since the resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, several wealthy businessmen have been held in custody for benefiting from government contracts through their links with senior Algerian officials.
Sellal is the second prime minister to be detained in Harrach prison after Ahmed Ouyahia‘s imprisonment in an unprecedented case in Algeria’s history. Algérie Press Service (APS) said former prime ministers were convicted on charges of “squandering public funds” and “undue advantages.”
