Maghreb Edition

Algerian regime arrests businessman Isaad Rebrab, lengthens prison term of opposition figure to eliminate competition to president’s second termF

Posted On 19 May 2023

Number of times this article was read : 2085
Photo: Algeria’s richest man, Isaad Rebrab-

The appeal trial of Ali Ghediri on May 16 and 17 ended with an increase of his sentence from four to six years in prison. Ali Ghediri is a retired army general who decided to run for president in 2019.  The court deprived him of all his civic and political rights for ten years, hence

Ali Ghediri

Ali Ghediri

constituting no opposition to another term for the current sitting president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The Algerian court used the pretext of “undermining the morale of the army” to justify his incarceration. Ghediri was arrested in June 2019 and imprisoned since. He was tried in an Algiers court in September 2021 and was sentenced to four years in prison, a sentence first upheld on appeal in January 2022, then increased to fix year this week. Hocine Gasmi, the other accused in this case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The court said Gasmi had led a political party under a false identity. Ghediri will remain in prison until June 2025

In another twist to this story, the Algerian regime arrested businessman Issad Rebrab, Algeria’s richest man, placing him under judicial supervision because he allegedly covered the legal cost of defending Ali Ghediri. According to investigative journalist Abdou Semmar, Issad Rebrab was arrested on May 17 by agents of the Central Office for the Fight against Organized Crime. When he was then place under judicial review by a prosecutor affiliated with the notorious court of Sidi M’hamed in Algiers, a court that has been used by the regime to prosecute politicians, journalists, and rights activists.  The prosecutor used Algeria’s recently established laws on financial and commercial transactions with foreign-based entities to justify his decision.

According to Semmar, the real reason for Rebrab’s arrest is a political stunt ordered by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and his clan to punish him for having paid the fees of the lawyers of Ghediri who could become a major problem in next year’s presidential elections. The Tebboune clan is said to have interpreted this legal funding by Issad Rebrab as the start of a new process of financial and logistical support for candidates who could oppose Tebboune’s reelection bid.

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