Abdeslam Bouchouareb, former Minister of Industry under the reign of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is in France, from which he requests protection. French justice will rule on October 9 on Algeria’s extradition requests.
Prosecuted in Algeria in corruption cases, he was repeatedly sentenced to heavy sentences of 20 years in prison in absentia.
He left Algeria before the fall of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April 2019, under pressure from the popular hirak which derailed the plan for his fifth term. He took refuge in France, as TSA reported in May 2019.
According to an AFP report published this Thursday, September 19, Abdeslam Bouchouareb is the subject of an extradition request from Algeria.
His lawyer Benjamin Bohbot asks the French justice system not to extradite him, affirming that his client is the subject of “political prosecutions” in the context of “purge of the Bouteflika era”.
Since the fall of the former President of the Republic, numerous convictions for corruption have been handed down against former ministers and businessmen. In Algeria, Abdeslam Bouchouareb was convicted in absentia in numerous cases related to the automobile case.
Will France extradite Abdeslam Bouchouareb to Algeria?
Domiciled in the Alpes-Maritimes in the South-East of France, Abdeslam Bouchouareb, 72, has been placed under judicial control by French justice since October 2023. He is only prohibited from leaving France where he resides legally, according to the ‘AFP.
In total, Algeria presented to the investigating chamber of the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence (South of France) eight extradition requests in the Bouchouareb case, including five to execute judgments handed down against the former Minister of Industry (April 2014 – May 2017) and three in the context of other legal proceedings.
The judges of the Court of Aix-en-Provenance asked the Algerian justice system for “two additional pieces of information to obtain clarification on legal points”, according to the same source. The French judges also demanded a “formal commitment” that the death penalty, if incurred, “will neither be required nor applied”.
Abdeslam Bouchouareb was cited in the Panama Papers affair in 2016 which revealed that he owned an offshore company managing a portfolio of real estate securities worth 700,000 euros.
He lost the confidence of President Bouteflika upon the appointment of Abdelmadjid Tebboune as head of government on May 25, 2017, when he was the subject of harsh criticism over his management of vehicle import licenses.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune was then removed from the government on August 16 of the same year under pressure from Bouteflika’s men.
He was elected President of the Republic in December 2019 and re-elected for a second term on September 7.
