[News] Algeria: Bouteflika's "secret daughter" sentenced to 12 years in prison

[HiTLeR]

 

Yesterday, a court in the Algerian capital convicted “Madame Maya”, who claimed to be the daughter of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, with 12 years imprisonment with execution, on the basis of serious corruption charges involving two ministers and a former police chief. Each of them received a sentence of 10 years imprisonment with execution.

The "story of Maya," whose real name is Zulekha Nisnach, promised a confusing mystery, and, according to lawyers connected to the file, gave a strong impression of the state of delinquency and mani[CENSORED]tion of large institutions in the state, such as the Presidency of the Republic.

During many years, "Maya" acted on the basis that she was Bouteflika's daughter, and she was indeed related to him, as she mentioned in the reports of the security investigation. But this relationship remained a mystery.

During the trial, which lasted for a week, lawyers demanded that Bouteflika be summoned to hear him in the case, but the judge refused, bearing in mind that ordinary Algerians know that Bouteflika did not have a wife or children. Maya (40 years) was arrested last year, based on reports against her.

The "daughter of the president" and government officials were followed up on charges of "money laundering", "exploiting influence", "granting undue privileges", "squandering public money", and "inciting a public agent (government employee) to grant undue privileges." And "smuggling of hard currency abroad."

During the trial, the Minister of Public Works and Labor, Abdelghani Zaalan and Mohamed Ghazi, confirmed that Mohamed Rougab, the private secretary at Bouteflika, asked them to grant Zulekha projects and investment concessions, in their capacity as governors (before they became members of the government during the last years of Bouteflika's rule), and assured them The matter is related to orders issued by the president and pertaining to his daughter. They asserted that they could not refuse to implement these orders, which came to them from the presidency.

The country's laws give the governor, as a representative of the government, broad authority to dispose of public money and government deals. Ghazi and Za’lan have been convicted by the judiciary in other cases, on charges of corruption. Regab stated in court that he had received a recommendation from Bouteflika regarding his supposed "daughter", and that he was forced to implement his orders, which he transferred to the governors. According to the investigation, Maya has chosen the states of Chlef and Oran in the west of the country to launch profitable projects. And she had what she wanted in a short time, thanks to sadness and Ghazi. The former police chief, Major General Abdelghani Hamel, also admitted that he prepared Zulekha with surveillance cameras, at the request of influential officials in the presidency. The presumed "daughter of Bouteflika" lived for a long time in the presidential residence, located in a tourist resort in the capital.

It is noteworthy that Hamel is serving a 15-year prison sentence on corruption charges, and the judiciary has also indicted his wife and three sons with heavy prison sentences in the same case.

In addition, the court in Oran yesterday convicted 4 people, with 4 months imprisonment, with execution, on charges of “insulting a statutory body,” “unarmed gathering,” and “harming the public order.”

The facts go back to October 5, when activists in the po[CENSORED]r movement took to the streets of Oran, the largest city in the west of the country, to celebrate the 32-year anniversary of the witnessed po[CENSORED]r uprising (1988) to demand democracy and freedom, and an end to the one-party system. During the protests, dozens of demonstrators were arrested, while the capital witnessed similar protests on the same day, in which many activists and human rights activists were also arrested, and trials for them are expected before the end of the month.

The four detainees in Oran announced a hunger strike in the prison, expressing their discontent with the ruling. The number of those arrested for expressing their political positions reaches 70, according to the "National Committee for Demanding the Release of the Prisoners of the Po[CENSORED]r Movement" that overthrew the rule and regime of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.