The appeal trial of businessman Mahieddine Tahkout, tried with members of his family for corruption, continued Wednesday afternoon at the criminal chamber of the Court of Algiers with the hearing of the former Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and the legal representative of Cima Motors.
Abdelmalek Sellal refuted the granting by the National Agency for the Development of Investment (ANDI) of advantages and privileges to Mahieddine Tahkout’s Cima Motors company, assuring that the processing of the Tahkout file “followed the legal route like all other operators in the field of vehicle importation “.
Sellal also denied having knowledge of the specifications drawn up by former Minister Bouchouareb. He said he was unaware of its existence and trusted his ministers to ensure the legality of the procedures and transactions related to this project.
Sellal tried to explain to the judge the geo-economic context prevailing during his tenure as Prime Minister, which, he said, forced Algeria to consider, as a first step, the assembly of vehicles to reduce the import bill costing the treasury $ 7 billion a year.
The decision to move to the assembly of vehicles instead of importing them, “bothered some neighboring countries which imported 400,000 vehicles annually”, replied the accused who believes that Algeria was beginning to leave the traditional vehicle market to move towards d ‘other brands.
For the accused, “the economic war” waged by these countries was aimed at “breaking the stage of manufacture and assembly that Algeria had started”.
In addition, the seat judge heard the legal representative of the company “CIMA MOTORS”, Abbache Arezki, who affirmed in his statements that Mahieddine Tahkout “was only a simple assistant and not the real manager of the company” .
The trial, which began on October 28, will continue on Thursday morning, with the hearing of the accused Mahieddine Tahkout and other accused.
The Sidi M’hamed court sentenced the main defendant to 16 years in prison and a fine of 8,000,000 DA.
Rachid, Hamid and Billal Tahkout were sentenced to 7 years in prison with a fine of 8,000,000 DA, while Nacer Tahkout was sentenced to 3 years in prison and 8,000,000 DA fine.
The court also ordered the freezing of all bank accounts of Tahkout companies, the confiscation of materials and exclusion from public contracts for 5 years.
In the same case, the court sentenced former Prime Ministers Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal to 10 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 DA each, while the former Minister of Industry, Abdeslam Bouchouareb, in state of flight, sentenced to 20 years in prison with a fine of 2,000,000 DA. Former Minister of Industry Youcef Yousfi and former Wali of Skikda Faouzi Belhocine were sentenced to 2 years in prison.
Former Minister of Public Works Ammar Ghoul was sentenced to 3 years in prison, while former Minister of Public Works and Transport Abdelghani Zaalane was acquitted of the charges against him. The Sidi M’hamed court had also ordered the payment of an amount of 309 billion DA in damages and interest.
