![Algerian flags flutter in front of the People's National Assembly (parliament) building in the capital Algiers, on 10 September 2020. [RYAD KRAMDI/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/GettyImages-1228435480.jpg?fit=1200%2C785&ssl=1)
An Algerian court has ordered the temporary detention of former interior minister Salah Eddine Dahmoune and a former chief of protocol, Mokhtar Raqiq, over alleged “corruption”, El- Chorouk newspaper reported on Sunday.
Dahmoune, served as interior minister in the caretaker government of Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui following the fall of the regime of late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April, 2019. Raqiq served as chief of presidential protocol for several years.
The pair are detained pending investigation of a corruption case involving the granting of exclusive rights for publishing government advertisements to a company owned by Bouteflika’s nephew who is a fugitive. The newspaper said that the company owned by Bouteflika’s nephew also benefited from installing advertising billboards in the capital Algiers for 17 years, thanks to Dahmoune and Raqiq.
Dahmoune was charged with “abuse of power” while Raqiq faces similar charges as well as “money laundering”.
Following Bouteflika’s fall, dozens of businessmen and senior officials who had served during his rule were imprisoned, including three prime ministers as well as several ministers and governors. Most of them are still in prison.
READ: French prosecutor refuses extradition of ex-Algeria minister wanted for ‘corruption’