The judicial file of officials from the era of the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algeria witnessed a new development with the re-arrest of former minister and politician Amara Benyounes , in addition to the issuance of a heavy sentence against his former colleague in the government, Abdelhamid Temmar, who is in a state of flight outside the country, in the view of the Algerian judiciary.
According to initial information, Amara Ben Younes was transferred to the penal institution in Koléa (west of the capital), pursuant to an order issued by the investigating judge of the Sidi M'hamed court, in the context of a corruption case in which he is being prosecuted on several charges, including abuse of office, deliberate misappropriation of funds and property, failure to declare assets, and granting unjustified privileges to others.
The judicial authorities have not yet issued official details regarding the exact facts attributed to the former minister or the elements on which the decision to place him in temporary detention was based, while media sources suggested that the case may be related to the investigation opened in the case of Minister Ali Aoun, who has been detained for weeks pending investigation.
This case brought one of the most prominent figures of the era of the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika back to the forefront of events after years of his release from prison and his complete withdrawal from the political scene.
Benyounes, one of the most controversial political figures of the last two decades, began his political career within the Rally for Culture and Democracy (a secular opposition party) before later breaking away to found the Algerian Popular Movement, which became one of the parties supporting former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika within the presidential coalition. He also held several government positions since the late 1990s, including the ministries of industry, trade, and industrial development.
Benyounes's name rose to prominence particularly during the final years of Bouteflika's rule, as his health deteriorated, when he became one of the most vocal defenders of the regime's policies. He also served as the spokesperson for the former president's campaign during the lead-up to his fifth term, which sparked widespread protests in 2019 and ultimately led to Bouteflika's resignation under pressure from the popular movement.
During that period, Benyounes’ name became associated with a number of statements that sparked widespread controversy in the political and media arena, perhaps the most famous of which was the phrase “May God curse those who do not love us” which he uttered in 2014 in the context of defending Bouteflika’s candidacy for a fourth term. This phrase continued to haunt him politically for many years and was constantly invoked by his critics as one of the statements that most expresses the decline of political discourse during that period.
On the legal front, this is not the first time the former minister has found himself behind bars. In June 2019, the Supreme Court ordered his pretrial detention as part of a series of investigations targeting prominent political figures and businessmen following the fall of the Bouteflika regime. At the time, his name was linked to corruption cases that also involved former Prime Ministers Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal.
One of the most prominent cases against him involved the transfer of ownership of a cement factory to the business group of Ali Haddad, one of the most prominent businessmen close to the regime during the final years of Bouteflika's rule. He was charged at the time with granting undue privileges, abuse of office, and embezzlement of public funds, as part of a broad anti-corruption campaign launched by the authorities after 2019.
Following the court rulings in those cases, Amara Benyounes regained his freedom in 2020 after serving his sentence, before gradually withdrawing from the political and media scene. However, the decision to place him in pretrial detention again puts him back at the center of legal proceedings and places his name once more on the list of former officials whose cases are still under investigation.
In the same context, former Minister of Participation and Investment Promotion Abdelhamid Temmar was convicted on Tuesday and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of 8 million dinars, while maintaining the international arrest warrants issued against him, in a case related to the privatization of public mills in the state of Tiaret in the west of the country during his time in office.
The Economic and Financial Criminal Court of Sidi M'hamed pronounced the verdicts in this case, which also included a number of former officials and businessmen. It sentenced businessman Youssef Metidji, owner of the "Ikhlas" company specializing in mills and food products, to five years imprisonment and a fine of 4 million dinars, with an order to confiscate all his real estate, movable property and frozen bank accounts.
The court also ordered Abdel Hamid Tammar to pay two million dinars in compensation, while the rest of the convicted defendants were ordered to pay 500,000 dinars jointly. It also ordered the “Ikhlas” company to pay a fine of 32 million dinars and to confiscate all the seized items.
The case dates back to the privatization of the Tiaret mills, a matter that has reignited the debate surrounding the policy of relinquishing public institutions implemented during the years of the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's rule. The accusations centered on granting undue privileges, abuse of power, and profiting from advantages associated with the privatization of public economic enterprises.
The defendants faced charges under the Anti-Corruption Prevention and Control Law, including exploiting the power and influence of public officials to obtain undue advantages, inciting public officials to abuse their influence, and charges related to money laundering and criminal proceeds resulting from corruption offenses.
During the trial, the defense maintained the defendants' innocence, asserting that the privatization process was conducted within the framework of the State Holdings Council's decisions and in accordance with the legal provisions governing the privatization of public economic institutions. They also argued that the investors had committed to assuming the debts of the companies in question, preserving jobs, and undertaking new investments, which, according to the defense, negated the existence of any unjustified privileges.
Abdelhamid Temmar is one of the most prominent figures whose name was associated with the policy of privatizing public institutions during the first decade of the millennium, as he held the position of Minister of Participation and Investment Promotion, and was one of the officials who most defended the option of opening the field to private investors to manage a number of public economic institutions.
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