The country in which three former candidates in last year's presidential election were sentenced to hard years of prison
Photo: ID 5314466 © Aleksandar Radovanovic | Dreamstime.com
Three candidates for the latest presidential elections in Algeria were sentenced Monday, May 26, to ten years in prison, a judicial source for France-Prese Agency said. The three defendants remain free and have ten days to call.
The prosecutor had requested this sentence for the business woman Saida Neghza, former Algerian Minister of Communications Belkacem Sahli and Abdelhakim Hamadi, accused of buying sponsorships, writes the French newspaper Le Monde.
About 70 other defendants in this case, including three of the sons of Saide Neghza, were sentenced between five and eight years. Among these defendants are local elected and members of the Patronal Organization Confédération Générale des Entreprises Algériennes (CGEA).
In August 2024, the prosecutor's office announced that “more than 50 elected elected officials acknowledged that they received amounts between 20,000 and 30,000 dinars (the equivalent of 140-200 euros) to sponsor candidates”, adding that, besides the elected, they were heard “10 intermediaries who collected the funds”. The candidates had to present at least 600 signatures from the elected officials from different meetings in 29 prefectures or at least 50,000 signatures from registered voters, with at least 1 200 signatures per prefecture.
Saida Neghza, president of CGEA, Belkacem Sahli, Secretary General of the National Republican Alliance, and Abdelhakim Hamadi, director of a veterinary laboratory, saw their candidacy for the Algerian presidential elections rejected by the Constitutional Court. Subsequently, they were placed under judicial supervision for “political corruption” one month before elections.
The elections of September 7, 2024 were won by the President in exercise, Abdelmadjid Tebboen.
