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Algeria: Auto industry magnate Mahieddine Tahkout sentenced for corruption
Algiers, July 15, 2020 - A former car industry boss who swiftly amassed riches under Algeria's ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika was sentenced Wednesday to 16 years in prison on corruption charges. In the country's fourth major post-Bouteflika era corruption...
Algerian police arrest singer for criticizing dilapidated hospital
The Algerian authorities arrested singer Siham Japonia after she was accused of "attacking the symbols of the Revolution." The arrest came after a court issued a warrant early Tuesday following her release of a video of a hospital in Oran that had no staff. The singer...
Algeria: Corruption trial ends with more prison years for two former Prime Ministers and several members of Tahkout family
Algiers- The North Africa Journal - 15 July 2020: [Photo: Fall from grace. The photo shows former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia attending the recent burial of his brother. He was in prison and granted the right to attent the funeral with heavy security detail] The...
Algeria: While cutting his prison sentence by three months, court keeps journalist Djamel Toubal behind bars
Algiers, July 14, 2020 - An Algerian appeals court Tuesday reduced a journalist's jail term to 15 months over Facebook posts deemed to support anti-government protests, his lawyer said. Djamel Toubal, 47, had been sentenced on June 18 to a two-year prison term. "The...
New influx of migrants raises concern in Italy
The recent arrivals have sparked protests by locals in some areas, after a few dozen migrants tested positive for the coronavirus after disembarking. Italy is facing a surge in migrants, with arrivals almost one-third higher so far this year than last, interior...
Algeria: Sonatrach rep in Lebanon among those charged by judge in tainted fuel scandal
Beirut, July 10, 2020 - A Lebanese investigative judge charged dozens of people including top officials Friday over a delivery of suspect fuel intended for the electricity sector, a judicial source and state media said. The "tainted fuel" case made headlines in March...
Algeria: As virus infections intensify, health sector faces disastrous outcome
Algiers, July 9, 2020 - Algerian doctors and nurses say they have paid a heavy price in the country's coronavirus response and have warned of worse to come, urging respect and enforcement of hygiene rules. "We're working non-stop. We're totally exhausted. Some...
Morocco and Algeria report record numbers of Covid-19 cases
Rabat (AFP) - Morocco reported Sunday 698 additional novel coronavirus infections, the highest one-day increase since the outbreak began in early March, with numerous cases discovered in a port city factory. The new figures bring the official total in the North...
Algeria: Several opposition figures and rights activists released from prison
Editor's note: Also to be released are Samir Benlarbi et Slimane Hamitouche Algiers, July 2, 2020 - Two key figures in Algeria's protest movement, Karim Tabbou and Amira Bouraoui, are to be freed provisionally from prison Thursday, a lawyer and rights groups said....
Algeria: Oligarch Ali Haddad gets 18 years in prison
An Algerian court on Wednesday handed heavy prison sentences to several former allies of ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika for corruption, a defence lawyer said. Prominent tycoon Ali Haddad was handed an 18-year jail term while former prime ministers Ahmed Ouyahia...
Algeria: Two more troops killed in counterinsurgency sweep in Medea
Algiers, June 28, 2020 - Two Algerian soldiers, including an officer, were killed when a bomb exploded during an army operation in the north of the country, the defence ministry said Sunday. Captain Fateh Bensmail and Sergeant Zakaria Khaldi were killed Saturday...
Algeria virus cases hit daily record
Algiers, June 26, 2020 - Algeria's health ministry said Friday it recorded 240 new COVID-19 cases the day before, the country's highest daily tally since the pandemic began and three weeks after easing a lockdown. Djamel Fourar, the spokesman for the ministry's...
How despair and misery fuel North Africa migration
"Here, I don't exist -- I die little by little. My only hope is to leave for Europe." Algiers, June 25, 2020 (By Amal Belalloufi with Aymen Jamli in Tunis) - "Here, I don't exist -- I die little by little," said Hamid, a young Algerian, his gaze fixed on Mediterranean...
Algeria: Sonatrach oil company operating without CFO
Since March 2020, Sonatrach has been operating without a Chief Finance Officer (CFO), despite a presidential decree announcing the appointment of Hadj Djilali Abouda. Abouda was appointed Vice President of Finance by a presidential decree on 30 March, but he never...
Algeria: President chooses status quo, maintains anti-democracy hardliners in bloated cabinet
(Photo: Hardliner Justice Minister Zaghmati maintained in post) Late on Tuesday, the Algerian presidency announced a reshuffle of the government cabinet, which saw some minor changes in the financial and economic portfolios, but maintained status-quo elsewhere. The...
Algeria: Five more people sentenced to prison for protesting
Algiers, June 23, 2020 - Five people were sentenced Tuesday in Algeria to between six months and a year behind bars after taking part in a banned demonstration, prisoners' rights group CNLD said. Fourteen people -- the youngest aged 19 -- appeared in court after being...
Algerian regime lost the moral high ground: It is arresting children too in new wave of repression
In an effort to repress civilians, the Algerian police prevented the holding on Friday, 19 June of several rallies across the country, using repression, as was the case in the eastern cities of Annaba, Bouira and Bejaia. But what raised uproar was the image of a...
Algerian regime maintains its attacks on civilians, jails mother of two
Algiers, June 21, 2020 - Algeria sentenced prominent anti-government activist Amira Bouraoui to a year in prison on Sunday amid a growing climate of repression, one of her lawyers told AFP. "This conviction is unjust, there is no evidence. We are going to appeal," ...
Algeria: Clash with insurgents in Ain Defla leaves one soldier dead
Algiers, June 21, 2020 - An Algerian soldier was killed during a clash with armed Islamists in the central region of Ain Defla, the defence ministry said Sunday, adding that an operation was still underway. An army detachment clashed with "an armed terrorist group",...
Algerian government attacks pro-democracy activists
Algiers, June 19, 2020 (By Amal Belalloufi, with Philippe Agret in Tunis) - Algeria has intensified a crackdown on an anti-government protest movement, targeting social media users in a bid to stop demonstrations resuming once coronavirus restrictions end. Weekly...
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