Algeria: Calls for 12-year prison terms for members of Bouteflika's gov’t

The Attorney General of the Algiers Judicial Council has requested a 12-year sentence for the former Minister of Public Works Amar Ghoul, considered one of the most prominent ministers affiliated with the Islamist current during the era of the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Ghoul and other high-ranking officials from the previous period are implicated in the scandal surrounding the East-West Highway, which began construction in 2006 and remains incomplete. The project has consumed billions of dollars. It has been marred by suspicions of corruption, with the road deteriorating, increased maintenance costs, and defects affecting some of its facilities.

The major players, in this case, have remained out of reach for accountability. Although the judiciary opened the highway case in 2015, the influential names never appeared. The main accused in the case was businessman Majdoub Chani, who had no direct relationship with the highway construction management. He was charged with receiving bribes from the Chinese to help them resolve bureaucratic problems they encountered after winning the construction contract.

However, things changed following the popular protests in 2019. Protection fell from the most prominent individuals involved, including Minister Amar Ghoul, who oversaw the road’s construction.

READ: 20 years imprisonment, in absentia, against former Energy Minister Chakib Khelil

Investigations revealed that the cost per kilometre of the road reached $9.5 million, causing substantial losses to the treasury. However, in his testimony before the judge, Ghoul maintained that this price was reasonable, as the cost per kilometre in Europe is estimated at $12.5 million and stressed that the project was executed transparently and legally without reservations or adverse reports. Ghoul also confirmed that he sent detailed information about the highway project to then-Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem and, through him, to former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Nevertheless, Ghoul’s justifications did not convince the Attorney General, who requested the heaviest sentence to be issued and a financial penalty of one million Algerian dinars (approximately $7,000).