3-4 minutes
Many lawyers and legal scholars believe that recovering the money embezzled by former senior officials could take a long time; up to ten years. They explain that the legal and administrative procedures that follow the delivery of final judgments remain complex, despite political will.
The several months’ trials against former officials and senior state officials have revealed that the sums of money embezzled are astronomical. Even if the justice system has demanded the freezing of bank accounts and the seizure of all the property of people involved in corruption cases, the completion of the related legal and administrative procedures, whether in Algeria or abroad, could take about ten years because of their complexity.
In a statement to the Arabic-language daily El Khabar, lawyer Amine Sidhoum confirms that “these procedures are tedious and take a long time”. He stressed that the money and property in Algeria “can only be recovered after the delivery of final judgments”. Regarding funds and property acquired outside the country, the lawyer says they fall into two categories: those whose location is known and those whose location is unknown.
Procedures are slow and complex
For money and goods of known source, in addition to the final judgment, there is another step that must be undertaken by the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs: “International procedures within the framework of judicial cooperation (which can take a long time), ”says the lawyer.
While money and assets are placed in unknown, that is, only numbered (offshore) accounts, you need to know their location first to begin the recovery operation. The lawyer also points out that the accused can oppose the recovery of the property in question. This will make the procedures much more complicated and, consequently, slow.
