In Algeria, a former energy minister was sentenced to twenty years in prison

On Thursday, January 19, former Energy Minister Chakib Khelil, who held office for ten years under the presidency of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was once again sentenced to twenty years in prison on charges of corruption, according to the official agency. APS.

The Sidi M’hamed court in Algiers also sentenced other former senior officials to prison terms ranging from five to ten years. They are former Minister of Public Works Ammar Ghoul, former Foreign Minister Mohamed Bedjaoui, and two former heads of the oil and gas giant Sonatrach, Noureddine Bouterfa and Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour.

Pay commissions

were tried for Waste of public funds when concluding contracts with foreign companies.. The court also confirmed the international arrest warrant issued against Mr. Khalil.

In 2013, Algerian courts issued an international arrest warrant for Mr. Khelil as part of an investigation into the payment of secret kickbacks by a subsidiary of Italian giant Eni to obtain contracts in Algeria, a scandal that has been the subject of several trials. in Italy and Algeria.

A refugee in the United States, he returned to Algeria in 2016 after the charges against him were dropped, before returning abroad when the procedure was re-launched after the fall of Bouteflika on April 2, 2019, under pressure from the Hirak movement and the army’s protest.