HIBAPRESS.
The specialized court in corruption cases in Algeria issued a ruling today, Tuesday, sentencing the former Minister of Labor, Tijani Hassan Haddam, to seven years in prison, with the order to immediately place him in prison, on the grounds of being accused of squandering about 40 million euros during his tenure as director of the National Social Insurance Fund between 2015 and 2019.
According to what was reported by Algerian media, Haddam, who held the portfolio of the Ministry of Labor from April 2019 to January 2020, was found guilty in a file of squandering public funds estimated at 5.8 billion dinars (equivalent to 39 million euros), through a controversial deal related to the purchase of a building in the capital for the benefit of the National Social Insurance Fund. In addition to the former minister, the court issued sentences of seven years in prison against the real estate promoter who sold the building, four years against the former mayors of Al-Qubba, and three years for each of the former director of state property and another employee, after they were all convicted of charges related to "abuse of office and granting unjustified privileges to others, the deliberate squandering of public funds, and the conclusion of contracts in violation of the law." The court also obligated the former minister to a financial fine of one million dinars (about 7,000 euros), in addition to compensation of 2 million dinars (14,000 euros) in favor of the public treasury, and another solidarity compensation of 100 million dinars (about 700,000 euros) with the rest of the defendants in favor of the National Social Insurance Fund. It is worth noting that the appointment of Tijani Hassan Haddam as Minister of Labor came in the last days of the era of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was forced to resign on April 2, 2019, under pressure from the popular movement after two decades of rule.
