The Criminal Appeal Court of the Algerian Judicial Council postponed, on Sunday, the trial of the former Minister of Justice, Tayeb Louh, the brother of the late President, Said Bouteflika, and the former president of the Businessmen Forum, Ali Haddad, and those with them, to the next criminal session. And this, at the request of the defense team, due to the infection of a number of lawyers with the Corona virus, as well as the absence of some of the accused.
After the two arrested defendants, the former Minister of Justice, Tayeb Louh, and the former advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, Said Bouteflika, entered the session hall, as well as the entry of the court panel headed by Judge Amal Ben Rokia and its advisors, Lakhdar Shaachaia and Nasser Minra, the contact was established with the penal institution of Tazoult in the wilaya of Batna Where is the former president of the Businessmen Forum, Ali Haddad, and Babar prison in Khenchela, where is the businessman Muhyiddin Tahkout, the presiding judge, Amal Ben Roquia, proceeded to appeal to the defendants, witnesses and civil parties, and at the same time asked the defendants to submit their establishment in the case of the case, who petitioned The court asked the court to postpone the trial, due to the infection of a number of the defense staff with the “Covid-19” virus.
The judge also asked Ali Haddad, via video broadcast, if he adheres to his defense due to his absence from the hearing, so that the accused responds in the affirmative, and on this basis, the presiding judge decided to postpone the trial to the next criminal session.
In the case file, along with the former Minister of Justice, Tayeb Louh, the brother of former President Said Bouteflika, and the businessman Ali Haddad, the former Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice, the accused “Ben Hashim al-Tayeb”, the former Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, the former Public Prosecutor and the investigating judge at the The Sidi M’hamed court, in addition to the former president of the Algiers Judicial Council Ben Haraj, also present in the case, four accused fugitives, and the matter relates to each of the accused Minister of Energy and Mines, “Shakib Khalil”, and his wife, “Najat Arafat” and his two sons.
Al-Tayyib Louh and those with him face the felony of incitement to forgery in official documents, incitement to bias and incitement to bias, abuse of position and abuse of position, obstructing the good course of justice and not obstructing the good course of justice.
The sentence against Al-Tayeb Louh to 6 years in prison in the Court of First Instance
On October 12, 2021, the Criminal Court of First Instance, in Casablanca, convicted 6 years against the former Minister of Justice, Al-Tayeb Louh, and two years in prison against the inspector. The former general of the Ministry of Justice, Bin Hashem Al-Tayeb, while the former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Justice, Lajeen Zawawai, benefited from the same ruling, benefited from both the former representative of the Republic, Sidi M’hamed, Khaled Al-Bey, and the investigating judge, the criminal pole of the same court, Simon Seiz Ahmed, and the former head of the Algerian Judicial Council, Ben Haraj.
On the other hand, a two-year prison term was imposed on the advisor to former President Said Bouteflika and businessman Ali Haddad.
The defense: The accused judges received the “Sinmar penalty” for their services
Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals and Secretary of the Republic, the poorest minister in Algeria... Judges live in popular neighborhoods and in dark buildings... They travel by "taxi" from their hometown to their place of work.. and in their balances sums do not exceed 30,000 dinars!..these are facts Invisibility revealed by the defense committee for the defendants in the file of Al-Tayeb Louh and those with him, with evidence, evidence and documents, to prove that their clients who spent their lives in the judiciary for more than 20 years, whom they described as “elite judges”, do not own property, real estate, villas or funds Rather, they are from the “Zawaliyya” category, despite their positions and the heavy files that are presented at their level, to be dragged into a criminal trial because they carried out the instructions of the first judge of the country and the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, who is the President of the Republic, while the lawyers described the case file as “huge in terms of size and empty in terms of Content".
They live in dark buildings and travel by taxi, and they have 3 million centimeters in their balance!
The defense of the former Minister of Justice, Tayeb Louh, said that their client “is considered the poorest minister in Algeria” because he does not own anything but his family home, and he spent an agency for his wife to take the remaining salary in his account balance, so that he could spend on his family, and confirmed that what A settling of scores happened or what is happening and the matter is over.
Professor Ahmed Saei’s defense established against al-Tayyib waved by asking the court panel about the reason behind holding his client accountable for issuing a desist order, even though it was a legal order, and it falls within the work of judges, and he emphasized The case exploded in the aftermath of the popular movement, where a number of officials loyal to the regime of Abdelaziz Bouteflika were arrested at once, including his client, Tayeb Louh, who was imprisoned.
The defense said: The Public Prosecutor petitioned against my client for 10 years in prison. , with the legal quarantine, to follow up on charges of incitement to forgery in an official document, in favor of the accused “Ben Khalifa”, and today the criminal court is obligated to build its verdict according to its conviction, based on what happened in the trial session. My clients incite fraud? How was the head of the Ghardaïa Judicial Council, Ben Sedira Muhammad, established as a civil party in the case, as well as the public treasury, where is the harm it causes to these people?” The incident of renewing the election of half of the nation’s members in Tlemcen. They told Tayeb Louh, “Why did you talk to Senator Aurag?” Is it a crime? The latter belongs to the National Liberation Front party, i.e. in the same party with Louh. What next? From the confessions of the deputy to the Tlemcen Judicial Council, he said that after the attacks and transgressions took place, we initiated a public lawsuit, and when questioned whether he had received orders to freeze the investigation, his answer was “no.”
As for the incident of stopping the notification to stop the search against Shakib Khalil, it is incomplete, it is possible That the Minister of Justice ask the investigating judge to do so, because those against whom arrest warrants have been issued have the right to enter the homeland and be heard, and therefore the elements of this crime do not exist. A law in the history of Algerian justice, and accordingly, your position today is a disaster, as there is no corruption in the case file, and it is considered a historical position that you do not envy, Mr. President, and accordingly we seek your innocence. Al-Tayeb Louh, “When any minister declares that the issue is political, and therefore, you, Mr. President, bear full responsibility before God first, then before the accused, and finally before the Algerian people.”
The lawyer added, “When we heard the pleading of the Public Prosecutor, it seemed to me that I was in the utopia, but For God's sake, have we received evidence and presumptions that incriminate the defendants in the Al-Hal case, but unfortunately, these people have been wronged. The Minister of Justice bears the burdens unjustly. Mr. President, we have asked repeatedly to bring the “forgery” document, but there is no life for whom you call..?
Defense of Bin Hashim Al-Tayeb: 20 years in the judiciary, and this is Sinmar's penalty
The defense of the former Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice said: “I start from where the Attorney General ended.. Yes, everyone is subject to the law, and this is the philosophy of the law.. Everyone is equal before him.. I say that justice and the circumstance that the defendants referred to is that we lived through an exceptional circumstance, and some of them said Spring in the form of autumn, and there are those who said revolution... Is this really transitional justice..?
He added, “The judiciary is not that device that turns into ticking bombs, because this file is huge in terms of size, but in terms of content it is empty.” You are today as judges You bear responsibility before history, because law, rather matter, is spirit, so what happened today and what happened recently is a contradiction by all standards.
The lawyer described the case file as a “miscalculated scenario,” saying, “The Public Prosecution Office wants to give us the nature of corruption through its petitions, and insists However, the facts are of a criminal nature, and even the civil party has no right to establish and I reject it in form, because there is no harm in that. He was referred to the Criminal Court on the basis of 5 facts, but the follow-up criminal incident related to the legislative elections of 2017 at the level of the state of Ghardaia, where he was accused of the crime of forgery, and exactly on the date 4 or 5 March, and in fact, the contacts in the case took place on March 4, i.e. before The legal deadlines for collecting signatures have expired, but the investigative counselor was content with only the list of contacts for March 5th, even though the Administrative Court in Ghardaia decided on the file and issued a ruling on it, and on this basis, the elements of the criminal offense are not available in the case.
And the professor added, “ As for the cases of Rouiba and Tlemcen, our client was on a mission outside the country, and therefore the elements of the crime of misusing the job do not exist, just as the notification to stop searching for Shakib Khalil and his family, our client Bin Hashem al-Tayeb has no interest in bias in favor of Shakib Khalil because he does not know him Neither from far nor near.”
Moreover, lawyer Abbas Houssous touched on his client’s career and the number of years he spent in the judiciary, saying, “My client Hashim bin Al-Tayeb, before he assumed the position of Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice, practiced the judiciary for more than For 20 years, including 15 years as head of a judicial council in several states of the country.”
And he added, “The inspector general was carrying out the minister’s instructions literally, nothing less or more, in addition to that, he did not threaten or pressure the judges or anyone, sir. The president, my client, has been imprisoned since the beginning of the investigation, and he suffers from several diseases, and it was necessary for him to undergo intensive treatment, yet he was imprisoned without justification, and on this basis, we ask you to do justice to him and acquit him of all charges.”
In his turn, Professor Maasho.. submitted to the court executive decrees It defines the tasks of the Ministry of Justice executives, headed by the Minister of Justice, using all the evidence and clues to acquit his client, Bin Hashim al-Tayyib, and he said, “Mr. President, we see that the legal position is very clear. According to the decree that defines his powers, he transferred the instructions of the Minister of Justice, and the latter has powers to make decisions.”
And he added, "We are represented today before the esteemed body on the basis of actions that cannot bear a criminal nature, but rather are related to management, and the current president issued 3 memorandums related to criminalizing management.. Indeed, it is a disaster and a great embarrassment that we stand before you today to explain to you the actions of your fellow judges." Indeed, I feel embarrassed when the judge is questioned whether you received instructions or not, although these facts, Mr. President, cannot amount to criminal accountability.. Accordingly, Mr. President, “I ask you for fairness and the innocence of our client.”
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice.. a judge who does not practice politics
For his part, Mr. Jawahera Ahmed Al-Mutases, the former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Justice, Lajjeen Zawawi, strongly pleaded for the innocence of his client, using all the evidence and clues that prove this. The Supreme Court, and the judge does not practice politics and is not influenced by any political current, but rather is a framework of a state subject to the policy of the Algerian state. A misdemeanor that we are following up on. We have not reduced our case to two words: Are the instructions of the Minister of Justice communicated to the judicial authorities, through the Secretary-General of the Ministry that fall within his duties and powers, is a crime..? However, my client, in his capacity as a former judge and secretary-general, was referred to the criminal court, so we had to defend the accused’s constitutionally enshrined rights to defend the charges he pursued in the felony.” The instruction is for the judicial authorities, but today we will defend the facts in question, and I will begin my plea, Mr. President, through the completed judicial investigation records of the National Office for Combating Corruption, which came at its inception based on information circulated in the judicial community, and the follow-up of my client was based on the basis that two judges from the Council Ghardaïa filed a complaint against the Minister of Justice, the Inspector General, the Secretary General, and the Director of Civil and Administrative Affairs, however, by examining the file and the attachments of the judicial police, we did not find any complaint or any reference to the complaint, rather they limited themselves only to the presence of a statement that they likened to a testimony, and is it possible, Mr. President, to pursue a person based on A statement or testimony, as the judicial officers called it..?
With regard to the charges against Zawawi, the lawyer in the Ghardaia case related to incitement to forgery asked, “Is it reasonable, Mr. President, to make a call in order to inform the Minister of the Sector’s instructions for the proper application of the law, whether affirmatively or negatively, is a crime.. ? More than that, all candidates get minutes, whether by acceptance or rejection, and this is indicated by the administrative rulings that I will show you, just as the president of the council and the chairwoman of the committee argued that the female candidate was outside the deadlines, i.e. on March 5, but the administrative court decided on the matter and said that the deadlines are legal. It ends on March 5 at midnight, which means that the female candidate was within the legal deadlines, and this is what the rulings show in relation to her or to the other candidates.”
On the Boumerdes incident, the lawyer confirmed that the Secretary-General conveyed the instructions of the Minister of Justice to the Public Prosecutor of the Boumerdes Judicial Council And this does not constitute a crime of misuse of the position, and if it is proven that the Public Prosecutor erred in this procedure, then this is considered a mistake that deserves disciplinary accountability and does not amount to a crime.” Your innocence.”
A judge lives in a dark building and travels by taxi
The defense lawyer for the investigating judge at the Sidi M’hamed court, Samoun, confirmed that his client carried out the instructions of the first official in the sector and according to the proper application of the law, he saw that the procedures for issuing the international arrest warrant against Shakib Khalil and his family were illegal, so he canceled it by issuing a notice to desist In research.
The professor said, “His client, as an investigative judge, grabbed the first place in the field of judicial investigations with all merit and entitlement, and on this basis, he was transferred from the Oran court to the Sidi M’hamed court, Mr. President.. my client who held the position of investigative judge at the Sidi M’hamed court, On his desk are large files like Sonatrach.. He travels by taxi from his hometown of Tlemcen to the capital in order to carry out his work. He also lives in a popular neighborhood in Ain Al-Naja, on the last floor in a dark building, and in the balance of his postal account, an amount does not exceed 30 thousand dinars.. Is this him? The investigating judge of the Sidi M’hamed Court?..Did he benefit from privilege, and was he promoted.. neither, Mr. President, nor.”
The defense attorney of the Republic’s representative at the former Sidi M’hamed Court Khaled Bey, Al-Ustad Ben Harkat Abdallah, tried to drop the charges against his client. Considering that he was not the one who issued the order to desist from searching for the accused Shakib Khalil and his family, and Professor Harkat explained, “My client only wrote a notice, and before taking this procedure, he contacted the Public Prosecutor at the Algerian Judicial Council and informed him of this by phone and then in writing, and this after he received a call from the Inspector General.” .
41 years in the judiciary, and the winds bring what ships do not desire
The defense lawyer for the former head of the Algerian Judicial Council, Ben Haraj, confirmed that his client is following up before the Criminal Court after 41 years spent in the service of the judiciary, and everyone attests to his integrity and professionalism, and the evidence for this is his clean professional newspaper, but “the winds bring what ships do not desire The professor said, “With what logic and on what legal basis has the investigation been opened on the charges of incitement to bias and misuse of the position, does my client receive a deserved advantage or benefit? The answer is no, as his social status is very simple.”
Haddad follows up each time with the same incidents decided by the judiciary
The defense of the arrested defendant, Ali Haddad, said, "Today's trial is strange, and the strange thing is that we are before the Criminal Court without criminals, but we are still optimistic, hoping that things will return to normal." The defense explained that “the responsibility today rests with judges to rule with justice and fairness, and not only by law, especially since the trial is a precedent for the appearance of judges for trial.” In favor of the innocence of his client, and confirmed that the latter was threatened by the Military Investigating Judge with the rank of colonel, and then dragged him to the Criminal Court, accompanied by the Minister of Justice and the judges. The file began with an introductory request that included judges, the Minister of Justice, the Secretary General and Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice, the President of the Judicial Council, the Public Prosecutor, the investigating judge on the basis of the felony of incitement, forgery, abuse of office, etc.. But this is not enough, when we reached the instructions we dragged Said Bouteflika Through Ali Haddad.”
The lawyer continued, saying, “Saeed Bouteflika did not have anything to do with the incident of the notification to stop searching for Chakib Khalil, even though the Minister of Justice, “Tayeb Louh,” told you that immediately after the cabinet meeting, President Bouteflika asked me to stay. He talked about Shakib Khalil's case and told him literally, "Look at his case. It seems there is a mistake in the legal procedures related to issuing international arrest warrants for Shakib Khalil and his family within the framework of what the law allows."