The Algerian judiciary reduced the sentence of former Minister of Industry Ali Aoun to three years, including two years of imprisonment, in the appeal stage, after he had been initially sentenced to five years of imprisonment, in the corruption case known in the media as the “Imetal” file, in which his son and a number of businessmen and managers of public institutions are also being prosecuted, while the sentences issued ranged between ten years imprisonment and acquittal.
The Algerian Court of Justice issued new rulings in the case, reducing the sentence of former Minister of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production Ali Aoun to three years imprisonment, two of which are effective and one year suspended, with a fine of one million dinars.
The council also reduced the sentence of his son, Mehdi Aoun, to four years imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 dinars, after he had been initially sentenced to six years imprisonment.
The Algerian Court of Appeal reduced the sentence of former Minister of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production, Ali Aoun, to three years in prison, two years of which are to be served and one year suspended.
In contrast, the council upheld the heavy penalties against businessman Abdelmoula Abdelnour, known as “Nono Manita”, and investor Sami Boukataya, sentencing each of them to ten years imprisonment and a fine of one million dinars.
The court also sentenced the general manager of the “Fondal” company, Salehi Noureddine, and the president and general manager of the “Sidar El Hadjar” complex, Boulaayoun Karim, to three years imprisonment and a fine of one million dinars.
It also issued a ruling of five years imprisonment and a fine of one million dinars against the economic operator Sharafawi Muhammad, and the president of the equestrian club, Abdul Halim.
In contrast, the former president of the Algerian Football Federation, Charaf-Eddine Amara , the general manager of an authorized agency for a Chinese car brand, Ayman Cheriet, and a number of other defendants benefited from a full acquittal, with the lifting of judicial supervision measures and the return of their passports.
The case dates back to investigations launched by the authorities regarding suspicions of corruption within public companies operating in the iron and steel sector, particularly concerning the sale and purchase of iron scrap and copper remnants, as well as suspicions of influence peddling and illegal debt settlement.
According to what was presented during the trial sessions, the prosecution accused Ali Aoun of exploiting his position as a minister to grant undue privileges or to overlook practices within institutions that were under the ministry's supervision. He was also charged with exploiting his position, squandering public funds, and obtaining unjustified benefits.
The investigation also focused on the activities of his son, Mehdi Aoun, who was running a business that faced financial difficulties. The investigations spoke of businessmen intervening to settle or reduce his debts in exchange for obtaining privileges or facilities, facts which the defendants denied during the trial.
The Economic and Financial Criminal Division had issued a ruling in the initial stage sentencing Ali Aoun to five years imprisonment with the order to put him in jail from the session, after the prosecution had requested a sentence of 12 years imprisonment for him, while it requested ten years imprisonment for his son.
During the trial sessions, Ali Aoun maintained his innocence, denying that he had exploited his position for the benefit of his son, and asserting that the latter had acted independently in his business activities.
During the trial sessions, Ali Aoun maintained his innocence, denying that he had exploited his position for the benefit of his son, and stressing that the latter was acting independently in his business activity, while his son attributed his debts to the losses he incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, denying that he had received any privileges thanks to his father’s position.
Ali Aoun is one of the most prominent names in the pharmaceutical industry in Algeria, as his name was associated for years with the management of the “Saidal” group, before he was prosecuted in the Khalifa Bank case at the beginning of the millennium, where he was convicted at the time on appeal with a one-year suspended sentence and a financial penalty, before he was later rehabilitated after his acquittal in the retrial in 2022.
After that acquittal, he returned to the forefront by being appointed Director General of the Central Pharmacy for Hospitals, then Minister of the Pharmaceutical Industry, before taking over the portfolio of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production in 2023, and leaving the government in November 2024. However, his path came to a halt again with his prosecution in the “Imetal” case, for which he is currently serving a prison sentence.
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